Census's have been taken every 10 years since 1841 (except 1941).
The only ones available for research are those over 100 years old (ie. 1841
to 1911), the others are closed from public viewing.
The 1841 census was limited in the data captured, the others largely contain
the same data items.
Each house was enumerated by listing the people in it, starting with the
"Head", others in the house have their relationship to the
head described. The data collected was:-
Address
Person's Name
Head or Relationship to the head (usually Head,Wife, Son, Daughter etc.)
Marital Condition (usually one of; Married,
Unmarried or Widowed, often left blank for children)
Age (separate columns for Male and Female)
Occupation - common abbreviations include "Ag
Lab" (Agricultural Labourer), "M S" or "F S"
(Male or Female servant).
Place of birth
Infirmity (often lists "blind" or
"deaf", but also may say things like "Idiot" or
"Deficient Intellect")
** 1841 information does not include relationship,
marital status and infirmity, and the birthplace is limited to a Yes/
No - born in this County. Also on the 1841, ages of adults were usually
rounded to the nearest 5 years.
When viewing any data like this, be aware that
errors may have been included at any time, for example it is quite
likely that a bored enumerator would make a simple copying error when
filling in his book. There was no one to 'double check' his work.
Many of the people who were listed could not
read or write, so spelling was how the enumerator heard it, not how
the person insisted it should be spelled. This problem is much worse
where people moved and their accent was not fully understood by the
enumerator.
Only recently have full indices (by person's
name) become available, but on 'pay per view' web sites. However,
there are full transcripts of the 1881 and 1901 census available free
to view on the web (1881 by the Church of the Latter Day Saints -The
Mormons and the 1901 has been 'published' by the Public Record Office,
their index is free to view, but you have to pay for viewing images
of the original pages).
English census's have a 3 part reference system
- A Code (defines the year), followed by a "Piece" Number
(defines the district that is covered) and a folio number (a single,
2 sided, page from the enumerator's book. Thus "RG9/456 70"
is the 1861 census/ area 456 (Surbiton Surrey). and folio 70.
Census codes are HO107 (1851), RG9 (1861),
RG10 (1871), RG11 (1881), RG12 (1891) and RG13 (1901).
N.B. (as usual) the 1841 census is different,
also coded HO107, this has a four part reference e.g. "HO107/231/1
8". The extras figure is a book number, which divided the geographical
area into smaller parts (in this case the code means 1841/Tavistock
district// village of Bradstone folio 8).
My Transcriptions:-
I have transcribed as accurately as I can from
(sometimes very poor) microfilmed copies of the original books (which
are not generally available to view). I make it a policy to transcribe
what is written, even if there is clearly a mistake.
When I calculate year of birth from the age,
I assume that as the census was taken end of March, 75% people will
not have reached that year's birthday, so I calculate (e.g.) age 16
in 1851 = birth year of 1834. Most other transcriptions do simple
arithmetic on the figures give a year of 1835. This date is only a
'guesstimate' so be aware when viewing various different sources of
the way it is calculated.
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