For our earliest Scottish ancestors the only information I get for them is from parish records, baptisms, marriages and burials. In Scotland I very rarely get a burial record as most of our ancestors could not afford to pay the Kirk for a mortcloth. There is more information about the rich and infamous through tax records, wills, criminal proceedings and newspapers but the state had little or no knowledge of the personal details of the general population. However as I move forward in time more information becomes available for official records.
After 1841 Census the state knew for the first time who everyone was, their approximate location, age and for some occupation.
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| 1841 Census Header |
The 1851 Census followed which gathered even more personal data. In 1855 statutory registration of births, deaths and marriages began, even more personal data being gathered by the state. Improvements in health care, social care and electoral reform that followed have always being in conjunction with the gathering of personal data by an arm of the state.
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| 1851 Census Header |
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| Statutory Marriage Header |
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So what have I learned is that surveillance of the general population is not new, since 1841 Big Brother State has been steadily gathering information about you, free choice is no more!😅😅😅
In the words of a great Scottish Philosopher "We're doomed".