Census

Introduction

Census records are an invaluable resource for anyone tracing their family tree as they provide us with a snapshot of history at a particular point in time.

If you have so far traced your ancestors using birth, marriage and death records and you have drawn up a family chart of key dates and individuals, your next step should be searching the census returns, as this is the information that will help bring your ancestors to life.

Census returns can not only help us determine who our ancestors were, but they can also tell us where our ancestors were living, who they were living with, what their occupations were, if they had any servants, who their neighbours were, if they had any brothers and sisters, what their ages were at the time of the census and even if they had any disabilities. A census return can also provide us with small details such as streets that existed that perhaps no longer exist, to large chunks of information such as the number of men, women and children in England and Wales at that particular point in time.

As well as giving us the above useful information, the fact that census returns are taken every ten years also allows us to track the movements of our ancestors as they perhaps move house, get married, have children or even change occupations.

Past census returns - years and dates

A census of the population of England and Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles has been taken every ten years since 1801, except in 1941 during the Second World War. As census returns are subject to public closure for 100 years because of the potentially sensitive personal information they contain, the English and Welsh census returns that are currently available to the public and widely available and useful for researchers are as follows:

• 1841 – taken on 7 June
• 1851 – taken on 30 March
• 1861 – taken on 7 April
• 1871 – taken on 2 April
• 1881 - taken on 3 April
• 1891 – taken on 5 April
• 1901 – taken on 31 March

Whilst the census returns for 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 were not preserved in their complete form, there are some areas where returns for these years have been found and some survive in local authority libraries and archives.

• 1801 - taken on 10 March
• 1811 - taken on 27 May
• 1821 - taken on 28 May
• 1831 - taken on 30 May

How census data was recorded

The collecting of census data was the responsibility of enumerators – a body of paid volunteers who helped the government in their statistical exercise.

Enumerators were generally members of society who were literate and had a suitable standard of education such as clergy, school teachers, doctors, lawyers and businessmen.

Shortly before the census date, enumerators were provided with forms – called Schedules – which they delivered to every household, hospital, ship or institution within the district under their responsibility. The head of the house for each household (or the officer in charge of the institution or ship) was required to complete this form in time for the enumerator’s collection a few days later

When the enumerators returned on the night of the census, they went from door to door checking and collecting the completed forms. If the forms were not completed, the enumerators would question members of the household to get the required information from them.

Once the Schedules were complete, the enumerators would copy the forms into printed books of blank census forms. These books were then sent to the local registrars who also checked the data and forwarded it onto the central office in London, for final checking and publication as a Parliamentary Paper.

What the census contain

The census returns from 1801 to 1831 were taken by the government for purely statistical/headcount purposes and the details collected about individuals were mostly destroyed after they had been used. However, this changed with the census in 1841, where set information was recorded about every person staying at an address on the night of the census.

From 1851 to 1901 details about every individual at an address were still recorded; however, further information was also collected by the enumerator, such as condition of marriage and disability. The format of the census remained largely the same throughout this time.

Data included in the 1841 census:

• Address
• Names – only the surname and first name
• Age – rounded to nearest five years
• Occupation
• Born (county) – question only answered by a yes or a no if the person was born in the county where he/she was, on the night of the census
• Born (country) – question only answered by a yes or a no if the person was born in the county where he/she was, on the night of the census

Data included in the 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census:

• Address
• Names – the surname and first name, and sometimes the middle name or initial
• Age
• Occupation
• Born (county) – name of county given
• Born (country) – name of country given
• Relationship to head of household
• Condition of marriage
• Disability – ‘blind, deaf-and-dumb, imbecile or lunatic’

Additionally, where the 1891 and 1901 census was taken in Wales, the census included a question on the language spoken.

Don't believe everything you read

As with any family history records, original census returns are not free from mistakes; you should therefore keep an open mind when using the data and not believe everything you read.

Some common errors that can be found in census returns are as follows:

Errors in recording data

As illiteracy was quite high in the 19th century, many people may have asked their friends, neighbours or even the enumerators to help fill out the forms. In institutions or on vessels it was the person in charge of the prison or ship who completed the details on behalf of everyone in the institution or on the ship. This led to many errors in note taking and in recording the final information. Typical mistakes were made when spelling peoples’ names, or noting their occupations, or even when recording their ages.

Age discrepancies

Whilst enumerators and the officials at institutions made mistakes when recoding information, individuals who completed the forms themselves also made some errors. This is certainly true of some people who were quite inventive about their age, or simply had only a vague notion of when they were born.

Name changing

Ten years is a long time, and a lot of things happened in our ancestors’ lives between one census and another. During this time they may have got married and re-married perhaps, resulting in a number of name changes. Alternatively, there may have been cases where they wanted to change their identity, perhaps for personal or political reasons. You may, for example, have a bigamist in the family who changed his name to flee from a former partner. You may also have ancestors who anglicised their names over a period of time to suit the political environment.

Occupations

Many people also lied about their occupations when completing census returns. For example, in the 19th century thousands of women were prostitutes, yet this is certainly not what they recorded on their forms. Also, whilst most children were noted as ‘scholars’ by their parents, this may have been to disguise the fact that they were breaking the law by sending their underage children out to work.

Tips for searching

When searching for your ancestors in the census records, keep an open mind as to where they may have been on the night the particular census was taken. If you have an idea about where they lived, you should start your search with that address. If they are not recorded at that address, you should broaden your search.

The following tips may help you:

Cross-checking with births, marriages and deaths

Census returns enable us to track ancestors we know about and discover ancestors we never knew existed. By linking these finds to the birth, marriage and death records, we can discover more about these long lost relatives.

Some examples of how this can be done are below:

You could also start with the birth, marriage and death indexes to help locate your ancestors in the various census returns. Once you’ve found details of a birth in the indexes of 1837online.com and you have ordered a copy of the birth certificate, you’ll have details such as the names of the parents (including the mother’s maiden name), the father’s occupation, and the address and area where the family was living at that particular date. This is the valuable information that will help you find this family in the next census return for that period.

Marriage certificates also name the fathers of bride and groom, give their occupations, the bride’s maiden name, and very importantly, the addresses at which they were living at the time of the marriage. These too can be followed up in the census return

House history

When you use census returns to trace your ancestors, you may also want to think about using them to trace the history of your home and the road you live on.

If you have a property that was built before 1901 you could find out about the lives of the people who lived there before you, or indeed the lives of the people who lived along the same street. You may discover for example that a family of four lived at the same address, that the head of the household was a doctor and that the family employed domestic servants. Or that there were several families and assorted lodgers crammed into a few rooms.

Alternatively, you may find out that a famous politician or author once lived at the same address or along the same street.

Equally as interesting, you might want to look at how your home has changed throughout history or how the road has changed. For example, your building may now be converted into four apartments, with a total of 15 people living in the building. In 1861, the building may have simply been one very large house – home to just one family!

The road you live on could have drastically changed too. What is now a row of shops at the end of your street, may once have been a hospital, a factory or a prison.