1861 Census Act

Statutes of New Brunswick. 23 Victoria, Chapter 49
(Passed April 9, 1860)



   

            ANNO REGNI VICTORIÆ  BRITANNIARUM REGINÆ VICESIMO TERTIO.
AT the General Assembly of the Province of New
Brunswick begun and holden at Fredericton on the
twenty fourth day of June, Anno Domini One thousand
eight hundred and fifty seven, in the Twenty first Year of
the Reign of Our Sovereign Lady VICTORIA , by the Grace
of GOD, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, and from thence
continued by several prorogations to the ninth day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and sixty ; being
the Fourth Session of the Eighteenth General Assembly
convened in the said Province.
    
CAP. XLIX.
     
  An Act to provide for taking a Census.
      
Section.
  1. Governor in Council to appoint Enume-
  rators,
  2. Who shall take account at time and in
  manner prescribed.
  3. Governor in Council to appoint time and
  mode of taking Census, &c. Schedule
  of enquiries to be published.
  4. Enumerators to be furnished with copies
  of Schedule, forms and instructions.
  5. Discretion for expedition sake : official
  returns.
Section.
  6. Authority to ask necessary questions ;
  penalty as to answers.
  7. Digest of Returns ; Abstract for Legisla-
  ture.
  8. Enumerators’ accounts of time employed,
  and rates of remuneration.
  9. Cities of Saint John and Fredericton to
  be deemed Parishes ; Woodstock and
  Moncton, Districts.
  10. Meaning of term ‘Census.’
  11. Commencement of Act.
     
Passed 9th April 1860.
     
     BE it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Legislative
  Council, and Assembly, as follows: -

     1. The Governor in Council shall appoint in each and every
  Parish of every County such and so many persons, to be styled
  Enumerators, for taking the Census, as he may deem advisable,
  and may divide large and populous Parishes into Districts and
  appoint an Enumerator to each District.

     2. Every Enumerator shall at the time and in the manner
  prescribed by the Governor in Council, take the account of the
  number of persons who shall be actually found at the time of
  the taking such account, or to which it shall relate, in the Pa-
  rish or District for which he may be appointed, together with
  the other particulars prescribed by the Governor in Council.

     3. The Governor in Council shall appoint the time, and
  prescribe the mode of taking the said Census, and make such
  rules and regulations to guide and govern the Enumerators in
  their enquiries, and generally to carry out the object and pro-
  visions of this Act ; and shall specify the various enquiries to
  be instituted by the Enumerators, and cause a Schedule of
  such enquiries, methodically arranged, to be published in the
  Royal Gazette at least two months before such time.

     4. The Provincial Secretary shall furnish every Enumerator
  with a sufficient number of copies of the said Schedule and the
  necessary forms and instructions required for taking the said
  Census.

     5. Every Enumerator shall at the time so specified proceed
  to take the said Census, and an account in writing of the va-
  rious particulars contained in the aforementioned Schedule,
  adopting such mode of procedure as, consistent with his instruc-
  tions, will enable him with the greatest expedition and correct-
  ness to obtain the information required, and shall prepare
  therefrom answers to the said questions, in the form required
  by his instructions, and sign the same, attest thereto, and make
  return to the Provincial Secretary.

     6. Every Enumerator is hereby authorized to ask any ques-
  tion prescribed in the said Schedule of any person within the
  Parish or District for which he is appointed, to enable him to
  make the said enquiry, and correctly to ascertain the result ;
  and every person refusing to answer, or wilfully giving a false
  answer to any such question shall, for every refusal or false
  answer, pay not more than five pounds, in the discretion of the
  Justice before whom complaint shall be made.

     7. The Governor in Council shall appoint one or more per-
  sons to digest the said Return, and shall cause an Abstract
  thereof to be laid before the Legislative Council and House of
  Assembly at the next Session of the Legislature after the com-
  pletion of such Abstract.

     8. Every Enumerator shall transmit to the Office of  the
  Provincial Secretary an Account, duly attested, of the number
  of days he has been actually employed in taking the Census,
  with every other information necessary, to enable the Governor
  in Council to test the correctness of the Account ; and he shall
  be allowed at the rate of ten shillings for every day he is so
  employed, to be paid by Warrant of the Governor in Council
  on the Treasury.

     9. For the purposes of this Act the Cities of Saint John and
  Fredericton shall be deemed Parishes, and the Towns of
  Woodstock and Moncton respectively shall each be deemed a
  District of their respective Parishes.

     10. In this Act, 'Census' shall mean the taking an account of
  the Population and such other enquiries relative thereto, or
  relative to the Agricultural, Mechanical, Lumbering, or other
  resources, or such other Statistics as the Governor in Council
  shall prescribe.

     11. This Act shall come into operation and be in force the
  first day of January which will be in the year of our Lord one
  thousand eight hundred and sixty one.


Transcriber's Remarks
Transcribed by Craig Walsh .
August 2001.

Disclaimer: I have provided this transcription for its historical interest. It should not be considered an official or legal copy of the act.

Source
New Brunswick. Acts of the General Assembly of Her Majesty's Province of New Brunswick, Passed in March and April 1860. Fredericton: J. Simpson, Queen's Printer. 1860. pp. 70 - 72.

Return to New Brunswick Census Legislation.

This page was prepared by Craig Walsh.
First posted 5 August 2001.