Perim Census 1881

The earliest census figures for Perim are those for 1881. They are of particular interest as they give the population of Perim 18 months before the establishment of the Perim Coal Company. The basic figures for Perim were:

            Males               Females                      On ships           Total Resident

              117                    32                                  nil                     149

The figures also show the breakdown by ‘nationality/race’, which in some cases also includes religion. ‘Native Christians’ almost certainly refers to Indians and not Arabs.

The detachment had a strength of one British and one Indian officer and 50 men and in this instance they must have been from a Hindu regiment; the female Hindu was probably the Indian officer’s wife. So six of the detachment must have been Christians. The three male Europeans would have been the OC Outpost and two of the following: the Commissariat representative, the engineer in charge of the lighthouse and the water condenser, and the apothecary. The odd one out, probably the last-named, would have been Anglo-Indian. The Parsee would have been running a small shop; the Muslims and the other Native Christians would have been in government employment, mostly lighthouse staff. What is also of interest is that the locals comprised more Somalis than Arabs. The Muslims would not have been part of the detachment as it was not the policy to have Muslims and Hindus in the same unit. Most of the Somalis and Arabs would have been living in Meyun.

Perim Census 1891 & 1901

Details of the 1891 census are taken from two tables of statistics; one by religion but not by race of those resident on Perim and the other by religion and race but including those on ships in Perim harbour on census day.

From the total for 1891 one must exclude the 359 on ships in Perim harbour. These included 262 Christians, most of whom were presumably Europeans. As regards Eurasians it is likely that both were resident. Since there were 8 Native Christians in 1881 and there would be 14 in 1901, an estimate of 11 in 1891 would give a total of about 22 male Europeans as being resident on Perim in 1891.

The census statistics also provide details of the number of occupied houses. In 1891 there were 209, distributed and occupied as follows:

Thus the military detachment was Hindu; the two houses by the harbour were those of the commissariat agent and the engineer, together with their servants.

A comparison between the census of 1891 and the next census in 1901 is given in the next Table. It is not clear if the figures include children under 12, but on the available evidence it is likely that they were excluded.

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