Statistical Accounts of Scotland - The Second (New) Statistical Account of Scotland

The Second (New) Statistical Account of Scotland

As mentioned above, early attempts at producing an accurate statistical account of Scotland were related to schemes to support the widows and orphans of the clergy. In 1832 the Committee for the Society for the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy, with the blessing of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, took Sir John’s work further. It was to be more modern (including maps for each county) and was to draw upon the specialist knowledge of local doctors and schoolmasters. It very self-consciously set out not to produce a new statistical account, but a statistical account of a new country – one that the revolutions mentioned above had changed rapidly. It was, however, very much the child of the “Old Statistical Account”. Indeed, the Rev Dr John Robertson, the Minister responsible for of the new account for Cambuslang, was the former assistant to the writer of the old account.