CENSUS OF THE COLONY OF QUEENSLAND,

TAKEN ON THE 7TH APRIL, 1861,

UNDER THE

ACT OF COUNCIL, 24 VICTORLE, NO. 5.

Presented to both Houses of the Legislative, by Command.

Brisbane :

BY AUTHORITY : FROM T. P. PUGH'S PRINTING OFFICE, GEORGE STREET.

1861.

REPORT.

TO THE

HONORABLE ROBERT GEORGE WYNDHAM HERBERT, ESQ.,

COLONIAL SECRETARY, &c., &c. &c.

Registrar-General's Office,

Brisbane, 22nd August, 1861.

SIR,

In obedience to an Act of the Parliament of Queensland, " 24th " Victoria, No. 5," a Census of the Population of this Colony was taken on the night of the 7th April last ; its results, prefaced by a few introductory remarks connected with its collection and subsequent tabulation, together with a brief analysis of some few of the more important statistical data it has supplied, I have now the honor to forward to you. [Census Act.]

I.

The whole responsibility of preparing, printing, and issuing the forms and preliminary instructions for enumerators and collectors ; of the subsequent receipt and examination of the Schedules ; of the compilation, tabulation, and of the ultimate publication of a correct Census ; was, by the above Act of Parliament, imposed on me. [Responsibility.]

II.

It was not until the 2nd of May, that is, twenty-four days after the Census had been collected, and, of course, long after all preliminary arrangements had been made, that I obtained any clerical assistance—Mr. Walter McClintock, who had been appointed to superintend the tabulation, aided by one clerk, commenced his work on that day ; the further assistance of a second clerk was obtained about the 16th of the same month. By the end of June this portion of the work was completed, and the clerks' services were dispensed with ; Mr. McClintock, of whose assiduity and practical knowledge of the subject I beg to speak in the highest terms, occupied himself for about three weeks longer, in the preparation of the Census tables, to which this Report forms the preface. [Amount of Clerical Assistance.]

III.

The Colony was, " for the purposes of the above Act of " Parliament," divided into seventeen Enumerators' Districts, coinciding with the Police or Commissioners' Districts. These divisions were selected as being those whose boundaries are best known and defined, but even they proved to be in many instances very vague, and it was occasionally necessary that an arbitrary line of division between conterminous districts should be predetermined on by the Enumerators. A correct definition of the boundaries of the various divisions of the Colony is much required. [Division of the Colony into Enumerators' Districts.]

IV.

The following is a list of the Enumerators' Districts ; of the Enumerators appointed by Government ; and of the number of Collectors appointed by the Enumerators to each district :— [List of Enumerators and Collectors.]

V.

In addition to the Census returns, the Collectors were required to obtain at the same time Returns of the Lands under Cultivation, and of the Numbers of Live Stock ; and forms were supplied to them for that purpose from this office. [Collection of Agricultural and Live Stock Returns.]

VI.

Several circumstances combined to make the performance of their duties in many instances most arduous, and even dangerous, to the Collectors. The weather was unpropitious—torrents of rain, falling for weeks before and after the 8th April, had broken up the roads, carried away bridges, and so seriously interfered with the internal communication, that even on those lines designated the main roads, the mails were interrupted for many days together. If this was the case on roads to some extent marked and formed, how much greater must the difficulty and danger have been when it became necessary to leave them, and when the collector had nothing beyond his own knowledge of the country to guide him for long distances, through a bush intersected by dangerous swamps or deep and treacherous creeks ? Under these circumstances, it will excite no surprise that some delay arose in forwarding the returns to this office. [Difficulties in the way of Collectors.]

VII.

Notwithstanding the above difficulties, I have every reason to believe that the collectors have done their work well and correctly, and a highly creditable amount of intelligence has been shown in the filling up of the Schedules. Only one person in the whole colony refused to supply the required information ; but as it happens that he is registered in this office as a Minister of Religion, qualified to celebrate marriages, the information he refused to give was easily supplied, and I did not think it was necessary or expedient to gratify his desire for notoriety, and to raise him to the rank of a martyr, by enforcing payment of the legal penalties to which he had rendered himself liable. It certainly does excite some surprise that a Minister of Religion should have been so silly. [General Correctness of Returns and willingness to afford Information.] [Information refused by only one Person.]

VIII.

In the Census of the Colony of New South Wales, taken in the year 1856, the portion of that Colony which now forms Queensland, was divided into ten districts, consisting of the Police Districts of— [Division of Colony in the last Census.]

• Brisbane,

• Ipswich,

• Drayton,

• Warwick,

• Dalby,

• Gayndah,

• Maryborough,

• Surat,

• Commissioners' Districts of Leichhardt,

• Commissioners' Districts of Port Curtis.

IX.

So many alterations have taken place, since the above year, in the names, number, and boundaries of the Police and Commissioners' Districts, as to render any comparisons, other than those affecting the total population, or the population of some of the principal towns, and a very few of the districts, useless from uncertainty, and I have not therefore attempted it to any extent. [Difficulties in the way of Comparison.]

X.

The following are the Census Tables I have thought it sufficient to publish :— [List of Census Tables.]

1. Sex and Age,

2. Education,

3. Native Country,

4. Social and Domestic Condition,

5. Religion,

6. Occupations ;

consisting altogether of 14 sheets. I have, however, in further elucidation of the subjects to which they relate, prepared and attached as an Appendix to this Report, the following Tables, which I think may prove both useful and interesting. [List of Tables in the Appendix to Report.]

(List of Tables in Appendix.)

1. Showing the Number of Electors on the Roll at the last General Election in 1860, and the Number of Adult Males in each Electorate in April 1861.

2. An Extract from the New South Wales Census of 1856, showing the Population of this Territory at that period, the Proportion of the Sexes, at eight different ages, and the Numbers in each Police or Commissioner's District.

3. A Compilation from the Education Tables of the New South Wales Census of 1856, showing the state of Education in this Territory at that period.

4. An Abstract, showing the number of Males and Females, distinguishing the Rural Districts from the Towns.

5. A Synopsis of the Tables of Sex and Age.

6. A Synopsis of the Tables of Education, showing its present state in the Urban portions of the Colony.

7. A Synopsis of the Table of Education, showing its present state in the Rural portions of the Colony.

8. A Synopsis of the Tables of Nationality.

9. A Synopsis of the Tables showing the Social and Domestic Condition, and the Number and Description of Houses.

10. A Synopsis of the Tables of Religion.

11. L. A Synopsis of the Tables of Occupations.

These are, I think, all that are necessary to form the foundation of almost any variety of calculations or comparisons that may hereafter be required.

XI.

This Census is, for several reasons, of more than usual interest. It is the first that has been taken, on the same day, throughoutalmostthe whole of the British Colonial Dominions, and Great Britain itself ; it has not only been taken simultaneously throughout the Australian Colonies, excepting, however, New Zealand, but it has also been collected and tabulated by means of the same forms. It is, moreover, to the inhabitants of this Colony of unusually great importance, as the first Census of Queensland, and as being therefore the foundation for all future statistical calculations. [Importance of Present Census.]

XII.

The only material alteration I have made in the Tabulation Tables, employed in New South Wales on the occasion of the last Census, is, that I have adopted the plan pursued in Great Britain, of dividing the ages into quinquennial periods, instead of following the New South Wales system of division into periods of 4, 7, 14, 21, 45, &c., years. This alteration is, I think, advantageous in many ways ; and the principal objection that might be raised to it, viz., that it impedes comparisons with former New South Wales Tables, is of little weight, for, as I have already explained, the means of comparison are greatly interfered with by the alterations made in the Enumerators' Districts. Following then the system pursued in the United Kingdom, I have divided the age of man into eighteen periods—the first including all under one year of age, the last all above eighty, the intermediate ages being divided into quinquennial periods. [Alteration in Division of Population into Ages.]

XIII.

The first and the grand result of this Census is to inform us that the population of Queensland on the night of the 7th April, 1861, was in number 30,059—consisting of 18,121 males and 11,938 females ; and that as the population in 1856 numbered only 16,907, it has increased in five years by the addition of 13,152 souls, or at the rate of 77.79 per cent. At this rate of increase it would double itself every seven years. This, however, cannot be expected to continue ; it may and probably will do so for a short time, but as population increases, the percentage of increase will diminish, unless some unforeseen circumstance, such as the discovery of a paying gold-field, should occur. At present the arrival of a single emigrant-ship causes an appreciable rise in the percentage. To compare this rapid progress, arising principally from immigration, with the slow increase of old and already densely populated countries, who, far from receiving any accession to their numbers by immigration, are counter-acting the natural increase of their population by annually sending out thousands of emigrants, could answer no good purpose. [Principal Results of the Census.] [Rate of Increase.]

XIV.

If we analyse the sources of this increase to our population, we find, by the Registration Returns, that 3133 persons have been, during the last five years, added to it by the natural excess of births over deaths, thus accounting for an increase of 18.53 per cent. ; the remaining increase of 10,019, or 59.26 per cent., is therefore the result of immigration, inter-colonial, as well as European. An approximate statement of the results of the present Census in England and Wales gives the population at 20,205,504 ; being an increase in ten years of 2,134,116, or 11.81 per cent. [Analysis of Increase.]

1856 contained 263 inhabitants, now contains 320, and a separate town, " Toowoomba," unrecognized in the year 1856, has arisen within four miles of it, containing 1183 inhabitants ; the town of Warwick, which contained 472 inhabitants, now contains 1180 ; and Rockhampton, and entirely new town, has sprung up with a population of 698, as the principal town of a new district, almost without white inhabitants in 1856.

XX.

For reasons I have already given, satisfactory comparisons can be instituted but in very few instances between the population of the Country Districts in 1856 and 1861. In the two Police Districts of Brisbane and Ipswich, where this comparison can be made, it stands as follows :— [Police Districts of Brisbane and Ipswich Compared.]

From these two last Tables it appears that, while the town of Ipswich has increased centesimally more rapidly than Brisbane, the Country District of the latter has far outstripped the former.

XXI.

The second great division which has been made of the population, and which is also carried through all the Census Tables, is the separation of it into sexes. It would require far greater space than the usual limit of a Report of this nature affords, to enable me to enter fully into all the numerous interesting calculations that suggest themselves under this head. [Division of the Population into Sexes.]

XXII.

As a general rule, it may be safely laid down that a great disproportion of the sexes is a great evil, particularly where the population is dense and collected in large masses ; it however admits of some question whether this assertion is not weakened, and the evils considerably modified, by the peculiarly isolated condition of most of the inhabitants of the country portion of this Colony. It is, however, an existing evil, and one which I hope and believe every succeeding year will tend to cure. [Disproportion of the Sexes.]

(Vide Appendix B, and D.)

XXIII.

The proportion of females has, therefore, increased 3 per cent. In the former year there were 62.89 females to 100 males—in the latter year there are 65.88 females to 100 males ; and if we deduct 537 Chinese men and 1 Chinese woman, the proportion is still better, being 67.89 females to 100 males. The Rural Population naturally shows the greatest disproportion, viz., 1882 females to 9829 males, or only 49.67 females to 100 males ; in the Urban Population it is more even, being 7056 females to 8292 males, or at the rate of 85.09 females to 100 males. If we further analyse these Tables, we find that in harmony with a recognized law of nature, more males than females are born ; and that, as a consequence, there are more males than females below the age of one year in the whole [Proportion of the Sexes in the whole Colony.] [Proportion of the Sexes in the Rural portions of the Colony.] [Proportion of the Sexes in the Urban portions of the Colony.]

XV.

The average annual proportion of deaths to births for four years, ending 31st December, 1860, " the Queensland records go back no " further," is 36.80 deaths to 100 births ; the average in England and Wales for ten years, ending 31st December, 1850, " and I have access to " no more recent records," was 68.63 deaths to 100 births. According therefore to this calculation, the excess of births over deaths is nearly twice as great in Queensland as in Great Britain, and as the centesimal proportion of births to the whole population is also greater in the former than in the latter, being as 4.26 per cent. to about 3.37, it follows that the population of Queensland is from this one cause alone increasing centesimally more than twice as fast as in England and Wales. This is probably accounted for by the larger proportion of the population, who are adults. The number of children born, compared with the amount of the female population between the ages of fifteen and forty-five years, is as follows :—5788 was the number of the latter on the 7th April, 1861, deducting from this 250 as the approximate number of adult females who arrived between that day and the preceding 1st January, it leaves 5538 as their approximate number on 31st December, 1860 ; the " Registry" for that year gives the number of births at 1236—therefore, 22.32 children were given birth to, in the year 1860, by every 100 females between the ages of fifteen and forty-five. In the south-eastern division of England, comprising Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hants, and Berks, 17.25 children were born, in 1851, to every 100 women between the ages of 20 and 45 ; if we compare the same ages here, we find the proportion to be 25.85 births to every 100 women of the above ages. This is only what might be expected from the far larger centesimal proportion of married women in this colony, and from the abundant supply of all the necessaries, and even of the luxuries, of life. [Excess of Births over Deaths, compared with that of Great Britain.] [Number of Births compared with Adult Female Population.]

XVI.

I have already pointed out that the excess of immigration over Emigration increased our population during the five years preceding this Census by the addition to it of 10,019 ; of these, 4902 arrived as immigrants from Europe, and the remainder, 5117, have been received from the other Australian colonies—principally from New South Wales. [Increase by Immigration.]

XVII.

The first great division that has been made of the population, and which is continued throughout all the Tables, is into Town and Country Inhabitants, the number and the increase of each class, numerical and centesimal, since the last Census, is as follows :— [Division of Population into Town and Country Residents.]

There is nothing requiring comment in this Table, the town population has increased faster than the country.

XVIII.

The increase of the two largest towns—Brisbane and Ipswich—is as follows :— [Increase of Brisbane and Ipswich Compared.]

XIX.

The centesimal increase that has taken place in some of the towns of the interior is far greater. Thus the town of Drayton, which in [Increase of Country Towns.]

Colony, in the proportion of 652 to 637, or 97.69 females to 100 males, but we also find that, from one year old up to 15, the females are in the preponderance, and that even up to 20 years old there is only a small decimal difference. (Vide Appendix E.) In populous countries the number of females continues to be in excess of the males through all the remaining years of life ; but in this country, from this point, every succeeding quinquennial period shows a larger proportion of males to females. With this fact then before our eyes, it seems certain that if an equal number of the sexes be henceforth introduced by immigration, the disproportion which now exists will, from the greater number of females who survive the first year of infancy, soon disappear. The following Table will help to illustrate the above statements :— [Proportion of the Sexes below 1 year of age.] [Proportion of the Sexes for remaining Periods of Life.]

And the addition of 48 males and 14 females, of unspecified ages, brings the proportion of the whole population, as already stated, to 65.88 females to each 100 males.

XXIV.

In the following Table the relative proportion of the sexes in town and country are compared, and it will be seen that the years of infancy being passed, up to the age of 30, the females in the towns are in the preponderance, but that in the country this ceases to be the case, before the age of fifteen :— [Table of the relative Proportion of the Sexes in Town and Country.]

XXV.

Whilst making the above calculations, intended to refer more particularly to the proportion of the sexes, I have found it impossible to avoid introducing the next most important classification of the population. [Division of the Population into Ages.]

that is, into ages, the two naturally combine to form one Table (No. 1) of sex and age.

XXVI.

It is only of recent years, and since the study of statistics has been elevated into the rank of a science, that it has been sought to collect the information required to compile a Table of Ages. It was done in England for the first time in the Census of 1851 ; and the example was followed in New South Wales in the Census of 1856. The door has thus been thrown open to many interesting and valuable statistical calculations. For instance, few subjects of inquiry can be of greater moment to a community than the proportion that the strong and able-bodied bear to the infant or aged part of the population ; it is in other words, an inquiry into the present productive power of the country, the source whence it is to be recruited, the prospects that exist of that power being maintained, increased, or diminished, and the numbers who, having exhausted their productive powers, require in their turn to be supported by the exertions of their younger fellow-countrymen. [Remarks on the value of obtaining the Ages of the People.]

XXVII.

The following calculations on this subject are based upon the assumed fact that all under ten years of age, or above seventy, are non-producers. In this I have followed the data used in England, believing it to be as correct a line as can be drawn ; no doubt some are so precocious and others are so strong as to anticipate or exceed the intermediate years of labour, but they are not, I think, so numerous as materially to affect the calculation, especially as they may be considered as balanced by those who, from mental imbecility or bodily weakness, are prevented from ever becoming contributors to the commonwealth. In Queensland, in 1861, there are— [The Productive Powers of the Population inquired into.]

And in Great Britain the Census of 1851 showed 57 per cent. to the non-producers. [Number of Non-Producers in Great Britain.]

XXVIII.

It appears by the above that, compared with Great Britain in 1851, Queensland, in 1861, contains a far larger centesimal proportion of inhabitants between the ages of 10 and 70, the proportion being such that in Queensland 71 producers have to maintain and educate only 29 non-producers, but that in England 43 producers have to maintain 57 non-producers ; in New South Wales, in 1856, and Queensland, in 1861, the proportions are about the same. The burden thus east on the producers of Queensland is so much less than is the case in England, that from this cause alone they " i.e., the producers," are " with the same " proportional amount of earnings," actually twice as rich as the corresponding section of the community in England. This, however, is far from being an unqualified advantage, and is not likely to continue long. In New South Wales it will most likely be found to have diminished, and would probably have ceased to be the case ere this, except for the numerous adult population which has poured into that colony since the gold discovery. The natural source from whence our future producers are to spring, " i.e., " the children, " is below its proper relative proportion, and therefore the numbers who become superannuated cannot have their places fully supplied [Centesimal Number of Non-Producers in Great Britain and Queensland compared.]

by the rising generation. The proportion that producers bear to non-producers will, " if the operations of nature remain undisturbed," be gradually diminished, until something near the English proportion is arrived at ; the introduction, however, of an adult immigration will, in proportion to its amount, retard this gradual correction of the present disproportions in the several ages of the population. According to the proportion of sexes and ages existing in Great Britain, we possess the male productive powers—" the bones and sinews "—of a population of 49,558 individuals.

EDUCATION.

XXIX.

Education forms the subject of the second set of Tables, consisting of 4 sheets, in which will be found, divided into quinquennial ages, the number who cannot read, and are therefore quite uneducated ; who can read but not write ; and the educated who can both read and write. They are divided, as in the preceding Tables, into sexes, and also into Town and Country inhabitants. First then, it appears that 9227 persons, or 30.69 of the whole population, can neither read nor write ; next, that 3680, or 12.24, can read but not write ; and that, therefore, the uneducated—for I include under that head all who cannot write—are in number 12,907, or 42.93 per cent. of the whole population. Compared with the state of education in this portion of Her Majesty's dominions in the year 1856, it seems to have but very little improved, for at that period the proportion of the whole population who could neither read nor write was 31.37 ; of those who could only read was 12.15 ; and of the uneducated—i.e., who cannot read or write, was 43.52. Tolerably full particulars of the state of Education in 1856, compiled from the Census of New South Wales, and useful as a means of comparison, will be found in the Appendix marked C. [Education.] [Number who cannot Read.] [Number who can Read but not Write.] [Total number of Uneducated.] [State of Education in 1856.]

XXX.

Comparing the present state of education of the country inhabitants with that of the townspeople, it is contrary to what is usually found to be the case, rather in favour of the former. [Education of Town and Country Compared.]

XXXI.

If we next consider the question with reference to sex, we find (Vide Synopsis Tables F and G) the number of uneducated females, i.e., who [Education of Sexes Compared.]

XXXII.

The last enquiry which suggests itself is perhaps of more practical importance than the two preceding—it is, the state of education among the young. For this purpose I will assume that the years usually devoted to learning to read and write are from 5 to 15, and I shall class as [Education of the Young inquired into.]

uneducated those who cannot do both. Of persons between those ages there are in the Colony 5,319. [Numbers between the ages of 4 and 15.]

The following Table shows their state of Education, both in Town and Country :—

XXXIII.

It appears first, that the total population of the Colony, from 5 to 14 years of age inclusive, is 5319—that of these, 3163, or 59.46 per cent., are to all good purposes uneducated ; second, that the total male population of the above ages is in number 2649, of whom 1555, or 58.70 per cent., are uneducated ; third, that the total female population of the above ages numbers 2670, of whom 1608 or 60.22 per cent. are uneducated ; fourth, that the total town population of above ages is 3107, of whom 1665, or 53.58 per cent. are uneducated ; fifth, that the total country population of above ages is 2212, of whom 1498, or 67.72 per cent. are uneducated. By referring to the " Statistical Register" of this Colony for the past year, it will be seen that the total average of scholars attending schools of any description—vested, non-vested, public, private day-schools and Sunday-schools included—is 3169 ; and there is no reason to suppose that this average is below the mark. There are, therefore, at least 2150 children, or 40.42 per cent. of the above ages, who do not attend school. Some of these no doubt are educated at home, others again have left school before their 15th year, after having acquired a certain amount of rudimentary education, but as a counterpoise to these, many children below five years of age are included in the above school attendances. The average attendance in all kinds of schools in England and Wales, in March, 1851. [Number of Children attending School.] [Number of Children who do not attend School.]

was 1,754,814, which is only a centesimal proportion of 43.8 to the whole population between the ages of 5 and 15 years, leaving therefore 56.2 who do not attend school.

XXXIV.

As the groundwork of future inquiries into this most important subject, I have prepared, at considerable labour, a Return of Age and Education combined, showing the number who cannot read, the number who can read but not write, the number who can both read and write, and the total educated at every year of age from under 1 to 80 and upwards ; the sexes are also kept distinct, and the town inhabitants are separated from those who live in the country. The Tables devoted to this subject are necessarily voluminous, occupying eight very large sheets, and as their principal use will be for future comparisons, I have, from motives of economy, not judged it expedient to cause them to be printed. The expense might possibly be objected to ; but I have, for general information, condensed the subject into two Synoptical Tables of quinquennial periods, which appear in the Appendix lettered F and G, the larger Tables remaining for future reference in the office of the Registrar-General. [Educational Tables too voluminous for Publication.] [Synopsis of Educational Tables in Appendix.]

XXXV.

A publication I have accidentally met with affords me some data for comparing the above school attendances with those of England and Wales, but I respectfully submit that the officer whose duty it is to compile the Statistics of this Colony should not be dependent on chance, and possibly incorrect information, on subjects so essential to the efficient discharge of his office, and relating to which so many valuable and voluminous reports are constantly appearing. The extract is as follows :—" We are told that the total population of England and Wales " of children between the ages of 3 and 15, being estimated at 4,908,696, " only 2,046,848 attend school at all, whilst 2,861,848 receive no " instruction whatever." According to these figures, in England and Wales, in the year 1856, 58.30 of all the children between the ages of 3 and 15 remained quite uneducated—i. e., attend no school whatever. [Remarks on Educationin England and Wales.]

XXXVI.

Another matter worthy of consideration, intimately connected with this division of the subject, and which of late years has been attracting much attention, is the effect that education has upon crime. I fear that the returns from the various benches have been scarcely furnished to this office in a sufficiently correct form to justify me in making them the foundation of many calculations. Such information as I have been able to obtain appears in the " Statistical Register" for last year, and may be condensed as follows :— [Effects of Education on Crime.]

This return is, from their omission to collect the required information, necessarily exclusive of the benches of Callandoon, Gayndah, and Rockhampton.

NATIVE COUNTRY.

XXXVII.

The third set of Tables which present themselves for consideration are those showing the nationality of the population. These Tables, like the preceding ones, are divided into town and country, and also into sexes. From them it appears that— [Tables of Nationality.]

Also that there are 6205 persons resident in the Colony who have been born in it, the females being in the proportion of 101.26 to each 100 males. That of foreign European countries, Germany has been the largest contributor to our population, to the extent of 2,124 individuals ; the disproportion of the sexes is, however, greater amongst them than is desirable, they can only show 35.98 females to each 100 males. [Proportion of Females to Males Born in the Colony.] [Proportion of German Females to Males.]

XXXVIII.

If we class together those born in all the other Australian Colonies, we find the sexes maintaining a fairer proportion to each other, there being 88.07 females to each 100 males. The number of Chinese is not large—537 males, but only one female, a resident of Ipswich. The Colony of Victoria has been most liberal in the proportion of females. It has sent us 7 per cent, more females than males. In the Appendix, lettered H, is a Synoptical Table, showing in a concise form the countries from whence we have received our population, the numbers from each, and the proportion of the sexes. [Proportion of Females to Males amongst those born in the other Australian Colonies.]

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC CONDITION.

XXXIX.

The fourth set of Tables shows the Social and Domestic condition of the population, and the class of houses in which they reside. [Tables of Social and Domestic Condition.]

XL.

With reference to their domestic condition, it appears that there are—

As there are in this Colony 18,121 males and 11,938 females, it follows that out of every 100 males 27.99 are married, and out of every 100 females 40.36 are married ; if, however, we deduct 5370 males and 5422 females under 15 years of age, the proportion will look better. It will then be as follows :—Out of every 100 males over the age of 14, 39.78 are married, and out of every 100 females over the age of 14, 73.94 are married. On the 1st March, 1856, at the taking of the last Census, the proportions were as follows :—Out of every 100 males of the whole population, 28.64 were married ; out of every 100 females of the whole population, 42.93 were married. In both sexes, therefore, the centesimal proportion of married has rather diminished. This may be, perhaps, accounted for by the larger proportion of children now in the Colony below the age of fifteen. They now constitute 35.90 per cent. At the former period they were only in the proportion of 31.29 to the whole population In England, in 1851, the proportions were as follows :—Out of every 100 males of marriageable ages, 33 were married ; out of every 100 females of marriageable ages, 32 were married. There are, therefore, at the present period nearly 42 per cent. fewer single women in Queensland than was the case in England in 1851. [Centesimal Proportion of Married to Unmarried.] [Comparison between Numbers Married in England and Queensland.]

HOUSES.

XLI.

The information collected on this subject will be more interesting as well as more useful hereafter, for it will furnish the means of future comparison, and will supply data to estimate the increasing wealth of the Colony, one of its most certain signs being the erection of solid and permanent dwelling-houses. The occupation of the country is in most parts too recent to have offered inducements to build any but the [Houses.]

most temporary description of tenements, and even in the towns it is only very lately that the colonists have turned their attention to the erection of substantial, stone, or brick buildings. It follows, therefore, that the proportion which houses of the latter description bear to the entire number is small. The numbers are, 514 brick or stone houses to an entire number in the Colony of 6,482, or 7.93 brick or stone to 100 wooden buildings. Compared with the population, it appears that the average number of inhabitants to each dwelling is nearer five than four, but if we make an allowance for those who live in tents, which are not included in the above, we shall be very near the truth if we put it at four to each house. In New South Wales, in 1856, the proportion was 6.3 inhabitants to each habitation, including tents and drays. For further information relating to Social Condition and Houses, I beg to refer you to Table No. 4, consisting of two sheets, one for the urban and the other for the rural portions of the Colony.

RELIGION.

XLII.

Table No. 5, referring to this subject, requires very little comment. The various religious denominations are distinguished, and their numbers given, in every police district of the Colony, as well as in every town, and the sexes are also kept distinct. The members of the Church of England are the most numerous, being 13,419, or 44.64 of the total population ; and next to them follow the Roman Catholic, whose numbers are 7676, or 25.53 of the whole population. As in the previous Table, so in this one, its chief utility will consist in the means it will afford of comparing hereafter the increase or decrease of the various religious denominations. [Tables of Religion.]

OCCUPATIONS.

XLIII.

These Tables (No. 6) are very elaborate ; they consist of two sheets, like the preceding, the one applying solely to the urban population, the other to the rural, and the sexes are separated in each. The occupations of the male portion of the population are distinguished under fifty-one different heads, those of the females under twenty-six, making altogether seventy-seven. [Occupation Tables.]

XLIV.

The importance of the Pastoral interest is clearly proved, " if any proof of it be required," by the large proportion of the population who are directly engaged in it ; their total number—male and female—is 4,331, or 14.41 of the whole. In Agriculture, on the other hand, only 802 individuals are employed ; and under the head of trade and commerce we only find 643 to be so engaged. Next to those employed in pastoral occupations, domestic servants form the most numerous class, the number of hired, that is, of those who actually work for wages is— [Numbers engaged in Pastoral, Agricultural, and Commercial Employments.]

or 6.66 per cent. of the whole population. The meaning of the other division of this heading, " Domestic not hired," is liable to be misunderstood. It must not be taken to mean servants seeking service and unable to obtain engagement, but to be simply those persons who are engaged in domestic labour on their own account and not working for wages. Their number is 5591. Although it is easy to find fault with some of the terms made use of in this Table, it is not so easy to suggest more appropriate ones, and as these classifications have been the subject of much correspondence between the statistical departments of the several Australian colonies, they may reasonably be presumed to be as good as

could be selected. It may, perhaps, be considered by some that the divisions are somewhat too minute for our present population. Each succeeding Census will, however, diminish the force of this objection ; and the labour which may seem to be expended on an inadequate object will hereafter become of recognized value, for it will provide the means of comparing future changes in our social position with the alterations occurring in the other Australian Colonies.

XLV.

The following Table compares the number of the various kinds of Live Stock and the quantity of Land under Cultivation, with the quantity of hired labor employed in each :— [Labour, Land under Cultivation, and Live Stock compared.]

or nearly 4½ acres cultivated land to each hired servant ; or nearly 1150 sheep to each hired servant ; or nearly 800 head of cattle and horses together to each hired servant. Beyond these few remarks, there seems to be nothing in the Occupation Tables calling for special comment. They will be serviceable hereafter to show the growth or decline of particular interests, and to trace the increase or decrease in the numbers employed in the various occupations of the Colony.

XLVI.

The last Table to which I feel called on to draw attention is in the Appendix marked A. The population in each electoral division of the Colony is there given, with the actual number of adult males, and of electors on the roll at the last general election. It must be observed that the number of electors is the number on the roll at the beginning of the year 1860, while the population is that of 1861. No comparison between their respective numbers can therefore be drawn with absolute correctness, but a very close approximation may be made ; and to assist in so doing, I give below such information as I have at command relating to the electoral rolls revised the beginning of the present year. [Table of Electors.]

XLVII.

The proportion of electors to the estimated population of the whole Colony on the 1st January, 1860, was 19.41 electors to every 100 inhabitants, and there is reason to believe that this proportion has been maintained. The state of the electoral roll in the town of Ipswich is rather peculiar ; for whereas in April, 1861, there were therein only 806 adult male inhabitants, yet even as far back as the beginning of the year 1860, and therefore when the population was still smaller, there were 908 persons on the electoral roll. I should have imagined this discrepancy to have occurred through some mistake of the returning officer, did not a similar return, furnished this year, bear out its correctness, and even add 88 to the number of electors—their number this year being 996. After making ample allowance, as suggested by the returning officer, for those electors whose names appear more than once on the roll as holders of different qualifications, it cannot fail, I think, to include very nearly if not every adult male in the Electorate. [State of Electoral Roll in Ipswich.]

XLVIII.

In the Electorate of Fortitude Valley there appears by this Table to be 41 adult males without votes ; but by a recent return, forwarded to this office by the Returning Officer, the number of voters on the roll, as revised in the month ofMarch, 1861, is 297. Of these, 216 are freeholders, and no man's name appears twice.Every adult malehas therefore got a vote. This coincidence in numbers is most remarkable. [State of Electoral Roll in Fortitude Valley.]

XLIX.

In the Electorate of South Brisbane, instead of there being 56 men who are not enrolled, there are by the last returns only 41, [State of Electoral Roll in South Brisbane.]

consisting most probably of seafaring men or travellers, included in the Census, but not residents.

L.

In the Electorate of North Brisbane the number of electors is, by a recent return, increased from 680 to 820, after deducting all (i.e., 45) whose names appear more than once. There, therefore, remains the comparatively large number of 385 adult males, who were not on the roll at the last revision in March. The number of freehold qualifications seems small, being only 367. [State of Electoral Roll in North Brisbane.]

LI.

In the Electorate of East Moreton there are 756 adult males, and 642 persons on the electoral roll in March, 1861, of whom 456 are freeholders ; the total number on the roll is 658, but 16 names appear to be repeated. There is, therefore, an increase in the total number on the roll of 97 since the revision in 1860. [State of Electoral Roll in East Moreton.]

LII.

In West Moreton a recent return shows the number of electors in March, 1861, to be 696, after deducting 21 whose names are repeated ; of these 400 are freeholders. The numbers of electors has, therefore, increased since the revision in 1860, by 38, and the number not on the roll diminished to 375. [State of Electoral Roll in West Moreton.]

In the above items I have given all the information I possess ; but I hope in the " Statistical Register" of the current year to supply the same for every Electorate of the Colony.

LIII.

Having thus briefly alluded to a few of the more important results disclosed by the recent Census, I beg in conclusion to assure you that I have endeavoured as much as possible to keep down the cost both of its compilation and of this report on it. With that object in view, I have " perhaps unwisely" refrained from asking for such clerical assistance as the number of calculations included in the latter, and the Tables in the Appendix would, I think, have justified. Should therefore inaccuracies be hereafter discovered in any of the calculations or Tables above alluded to, they will not, I hope, be attributed to carelessness or inattention, but to the almost unavoidable mistakes that are made in computations involving so many columns of figures, where the services of a person to check and correct them are dispensed with. I wish it, however, particularly to be understood that I believe this possibility of error exists only in the calculations contained in this Report and its Appendix, for the Census Tables were computed by Mr. McClintock and two assistants, and have been so carefully examined, so abundantly checked, as to ensure I think I may safely say, the absolute correctness of their compilation. [Conclusion.]

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

F. O. DARVALL,

Registrar-General.