Introduction 
     
    
   
   
    
     This census was enumerated during the spring and summer of I890. Although no trace of an order to take census was discovered, I890 was a 
     
     unique year for bishops in the Diocese of Charlottetown. Father James Charles MacDonald was consecrated coadjutor Bishop on the 28‘h of 
     
     August I890, and officially became Bishop of the diocese upon the death of Bishop Peter Maclntyre on April 30, 189l. It may be assumed 
     
     that the census was ordered in anticipation of the transition, perhaps by Bishop MacDonald. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Lost Census Book(s) 
     
    
   
   
    
     It appears that the census book for Kinkora, St. Malachy’s Parish and that of its mission parish of St. Peter’s, at Seven Mile Bay, have been 
     
     lost. They were not microfilmed with the rest of the census in I989, and a search ofthese churches in March of 1998 by Father Gilliland 
     
     showed no trace of the |edger(s). 
     
    
   
   
    
     Names 
     
    

    
     As in all early censuses, names were recorded as they sounded to the enumerator. This sometimes unreliable method, combined with some 
     
     illegibility, necessitated guessing about some names. A question mark appearing after a name or comment means the entry was difficult to 
     
     decipher and a guess was made regarding the item. The reader is cautioned to check the original on microfilm. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Unfortunately maiden names were not recorded in all parishes. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In a few cases the names and / or ages of people went unrecorded. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Numbering systems 
     
     Great inconsistencies occurred in numbering. In some parishes, such as Kelly’s Cross, 3 numbering system was begun then abandoned. In 
     
     others, a new numbering system was begun on each page. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Numbers were sometimes duplicated. They might read 286, 287, 288, and then 287, 288 again. 
     
    

    
     In many cases, although numbers appeared, no entry was made beside them. At other times — an example of which will be found in Rustico 
     
     — a family begins with a list of children but with no parents names listed. In other cases, within a numbering system, names appeared where 
     
     there were no numbers. Sometimes spaces were left between families, while at other times families ran consecutively. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In all such cases, the errors were duplicated to agree with the original census registers.