[The following passage from the Chambers 1838 Gazetteer of Scotland appears on page 495. — George P. Landow.]
The following clear statement regarding the population of Glasgow has been published under the auspices of Dr. Cleland :
During the ten years from 1811 to 1821 inclusive, the population increased nearly 40 per cent., or 32| per cent, in seven years. The total number of baptisms in Glasgow, registered in 1830, was 3,225, while the real number, as ascertained by returns from the clergy and laypastors, was 6,397. Of this last number, 3, 1 23, or nearly a half, were baptized by clergymen of the Established church, 664 by the Secession, 671 by the Relief, 288 by Independents and minute denominations, 736 by Episcopalians, and 915 by the Roman Catholics. The number of still-born children during the same year was 471. The births being thus in all 6,868, while the marriages were ascertained to be 1,919, and the funerals 5,185, being as 3 T % 7 5 to a marriage, and as lyVo to a death. In addition to this excess of births over funerals of the great population of Glasgow, (nearly one-third,) we are further assured by the fact, that, in 1821, when the last census was taken, the total of births was only 5,278."
The extreme difficulty — if not impossibility — of getting returns from official functionaries in Edinburgh, has prevented the present writers from presenting similar statistics regarding the metropolis; but, judging from the gross census of population, it appears, that, in the present day, Glasgow outnumbers Edinburgh (excluding Leith) by at least a third.
Bibliography
Chambers, Robert. The Gazetterr of Scotland. Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1838. Internet Archive online version digitized with funding from National Library of Scotland. Web. 30 September 2018.
Last modified 1 October 2018