Genealogy Research
1901 Census Online
Breaking through the 1901 barrier
The latest census we can look at is for 1901. Censuses are protected by the 100-year–old rule to safeguard the confidentiality of the living. As the 1901 census is the latest available, and is the most accessible because it is fully transcribed and available on the Internet, it is a good place for any beginner to go to early on in their search, allowing them to ‘break through the 1901 barrier’. Looking at a census is an excellent method of giving your research momentum because it provides you with the age of a person on a certain date and that allows you to calculate their birth date and obtain a birth certificate without having to follow an elaborate paper trail.
The 1901 census on the Internet at www.1901censusonline is easy to use. Be aware, though, that it is by no means perfect: the database you are searching is a transcription of the original, and the handwriting on this will not have been easy to read. Places names, where people were born in particular, are commonly miss-spelt. Note that a search can take a long time if it produces a lot of results- if this is the case; you could receive the message, ‘Your search is taking too long’. Also, computers do crash, and you will have to pay to view the records you find.
Searching for an Ancestor
Despite the effort it is still very much worth searching the website’s database. You are given a choice between Person Search, Advanced Person, Place, Institution, Vessel or Direct Search, and help for each is available on the site. The Person Search is the most popular. The more information you provide, the easier it is to locate the ancestor you are searching for. If you are looking for John Smith and know little about him other than his name, sex and the general region where he lived, it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Your search will return hundreds of results, and you will have no way of knowing which of them is the one you want. If, however, you know that John Smith was born in 1885 and was therefore either 15 or 16 in 1901, that his birth place was Bow and he lived in the same area, the results returned will be far less; and by looking at the people he lived with, you may be able to identify, beyond doubt, the John Smith you are searching for. If the name you are searching for isn’t a common one, it is wise to start with a broad search and narrow it down if you get too many results; the detailed information you have may not agree with what has been entered on the census, and by being too defined you might miss the person for whom you are searching.
When you have completed your search and know which result you want, you can pay to see a transcription of the person’s entry and, if you then choose to do so, transcriptions of all the other people in the household. These will cost you 50p. You can download the original census image, on which you will be able to see everyone who was in the house on census day (though you must have Acrobat Reader to do so). This allows you to save the image on the hard disk on your computer or print it out. One downside is that occasionally it is difficult to decipher the original handwriting.
Paying for the Service
You may question whether you should be asked to pay to access the census records, but it is a small price to pay for the convenience of accessing copies of the original census images through your home PC. There are two ways to pay: by credit card or by voucher. The minimum payment is £5, which will allow you to see ten entries. Vouchers are available from the National Archives, the Society of Genealogists and other Family History societies. The advantage of these is that the vouchers can be used over a six-month period from the time they are first registered. There are also no issues of security if you are unwilling to give your credit card details over the Internet. Absurdly, a credit card payment is valid for only 48 hours, meaning that the scope for casual, infrequent browsing is limited.
But what can the census information you find show you? If the BMD certificates you have found take you back beyond 1901 and supply you with enough information to perform a detailed search you will be able to see where the person or people you have traced lived at the turn of the century.
Guidelines for Using the 1901 Census Online
- For a person search, start broad and narrow down the options if you get too many records returned.
- If you know the person’s forename and middle name, use the Advanced Person Search because the initial Person Search does not make out middle names.
- If you cannot read the original census image, try reversing the colours to see it white on black. Doing this may make it easier to read.
- If you are doing a casual search over the course of a few days or weeks, use vouchers rather than paying by credit card.