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Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 1900
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 09, 2005 - 4:04 pm: | 
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I thought the following general census notes might be useful for those of use who use this data source:
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
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.
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 country 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.
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.
The way census returns have been compiled since 1801 varies from decade to decade, leading to errors, mistakes and interesting anomalies! Before using census records, spare a few moments to read the quirky facts below:
• Whilst the very early census returns were used for purely statistical purposes by the government, many of the enumerators – such as clergy – may have also recorded data about their individual parishioners for their own use. Some of the data that they recorded was so detailed that some even recorded how many dogs or hens certain parishioners had.
• Generally it was clergy, teachers or businessmen who volunteered as enumerators as they had the required level of literacy to complete the forms.
• It was not until the census of 1891 that women were allowed to volunteer as enumerators.
• Whilst we live in an age of political correctness now, it didn’t seem to concern the enumerators of the 19th century. If you look at the disabilities column on the later census returns you may spot some instances where people were described as ‘lunatics’, ‘idiots’ or even ‘feeble minded’!
• According to the 1801 census, approximately nine million people lived on the British Isles of England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. By 1861 the figure rose to 20 million. By 1891 there were just under 29 million and today the populations stands at over 60 million.
• Once the 1881 census was fully compiled, officials noted that there was an alarming rise in the number of individuals being reported as ‘deaf and dumb’, when compared to previous census returns. After enquiries were made, it transpired that many enumerators had recorded babies as being deaf and dumb simply because they could not speak!
• Due to a number of factors, such as people not being at home on the night census returns were collected, or people being homeless, generally 5% of the population are always missing from each return.
• Some enumeration books are missing and some have damaged or unreadable pages; if you are unlucky your ancestors may have been recorded on one of these pages.
• Whilst you would expect to see occupations such as butcher, or florist, or teacher in past census returns, you may be surprised to discover that occupations such as ‘bone collector’, ‘temptress’ and ‘professional wizard’ were also recorded.
• People have tried to sabotage the accuracy of census returns throughout history for a number of reasons, such as invasion of privacy or to mastermind a prank. In 1911 many women boycotted the census to protest against the lack of women’s right to vote. The census for 2001 did not escape this, when thousands of people decided to record their religion as ‘Jedi Knight’!
Scotland
The census has been taken every year in Scotland since 1801 (except 1941 during the second world war).
To view the Scottish census records for 1841 to 1901 you can visit the GRO in Edinburgh at:
The General Register Office
New Register House
3 West Register Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YT
Tel: 0131 314 4444
Email: records@gro-scotland.gov.uk
Alternatively the census returns for 1881, 1981 and 1901 are also available at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Ireland
The census has been taken every year in Ireland since 1821.
To view the Irish census for 1901 you should visit the GRO in Dublin at:
General Register Office, Joyce House,
8-11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2.
Tel:+353 1 635 40 00
To view the 1911 census (which has been made available earlier than the 100 year rule dictates), you should visit the GRO in Belfast at:
Oxford House
49/55 Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4HL
Tel: 028 90 252000
Other Irish census records are not readily available. The 1861 and 1891 census returns were destroyed by the government, and many of the others were destroyed by fire in 1922.
There are other ‘census substitutes’ for Ireland that you may want to look at however:
Griffiths Valuation
Cancelled Land Books
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