The series contains the basic material for the census in the Danish West Indies in 1857. Censuses were conducted in the Danish West Indies in 1835, 1841, 1846, 1850, 1855, 1857, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1901 and 1911. The material consists of census forms. The forms are organized according to address within each census, i.e. each island separately, town separated from country, divided into quarters, if appropriate, and finally by street names or plantations. The forms from before 1848 are basically divided into free and unfree persons and the content varies slightly within the two categories.

This series is to be indexed (tagged), i.e. it is mainly personal names, place names and years that are to be transcribed. By transcribing this information you make it easier for others, such as genealogists, to find precisely the document that contains a given name they are searching for but without you having to transcribe the whole document. The transcription guide tells you exactly what should be transcribed and how.

You find the specific transcription guide for this series here: https://www.sa.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/danish-west-indian-censuses.pdf

The photo depicts rural labourers on St. Croix around 1900. The photographer is H. Hauch. Property of the Maritime Museum of Denmark, Helsingør. Photo no. 000000304.

Transcriptions