Following up on the last post about this years Census form and the religion question contained within, I took it upon myself to see what the people of 1911 put down for that answer. I wasn't too surprised to see that there were no big trends for the word "Atheism" in the search but what was surprising is the fact that anyone who answered along the lines of "no religion", "none" or just not aplicable, someone had come along and written "information refused" over the top. It seems that the notion of being without religion was in contempt of the census.
This might seem fitting for the time, but with the way the question is posed on the 2011 census form I wonder if little has changed. The supposition is that you have a religion and the option for no religion seems merely tacked on at the end. And as suspected, reports have surfaced of enumerators telling people to tick Roman Catholic if they were simply baptised, irrespective of their practising habits now.
[ List of 1911 Census Forms with "Information Refused" ]
6 comments:
Very interesting. I have looked at the 1911 census from time to time, but had not spotted this.
Also - there is a head of the household box - I wonder do the husbands still get put down automatically.
They also had space to declare yourself a lunatic. I think they should have kept this in the 2011 form. I think there should have also been a section declaring yourself bankrupt.
I am one of the 500 or so who put down atheist on the last form . I think I will put down Devil Worship on the new one - i cant wait for my census lady to call around, she is a milf
And my census lady has big diddies. I'm seeing a potential for a whole knew line of pornography here. The plumber being replaced by the census enumerators. "May I come in to check your pipes" being replaced with "may I come in and ask your religion". Each episode would finish up with the classic lines... "Will I ever see you again?" ... "sure, in about 5 years, baby!" Imagine if Gone With The Wind had finished like that! Frankly my dear, I think it would have been a better movie.
My census person is a grey-haired man with a harelip. Luckily for me, that's my ultimate fantasy.
The census woman said she might be calling this week for the green thing I was mean't to have filled out. She might not like my answers so I'm hiding under the bed everytime I see a woman passing. This is just like being back at school again.
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