Genealogy Sources

Census


The first census was taken in 1801, following decades of argument about whether its introduction constituted an intrusion of privacy. For some people the very idea was an infringement of human rights, a sign of an over mighty executive abusing it’s power. Whether genealogists ever found that these objectors were direct ancestors of today’s daily mail readers is unknown. But the argument in favour of some form of census was conceded by the turn of the nineteenth century, and in England and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man a census was carried out in 1801 and one has been conducted every ten years since, excluding 1941 because of the second world war. That first census revealed that 9 million people lived in those isles. Unfortunately, that is all it revealed. The first three censuses of 1801 to 1831 are of no value to the family historian. All the enumerators conducted were a headcount of the population; no name, ages or addresses out of respect to the privacy campaigners. By the late 1930s the debate had become heated. The argument was now over how detailed the questions should be. Things haven’t changed a great deal. Even now, after 200 years and 20 censuses, there are still those for whom the idea of the state gathering information about its citizens is an anathema. In the last census in 2001, there was a group of people with far too much time on their hands – more commonly known as students – who attempted to encourage people, when asked about their religion, to give the answer ‘Jedi’, on the basis that if a certain number were recorded as being ‘Jedi’s it would become a recognized religion. ‘Jedi Knight’ now has its own census code.

Rag Week pranks like this were not on the minds of our ancestors as the 1841 census approached. It was agreed that more detailed questions could be asked, though there were some limits. Names could be recorded for each household, but their relationship to the head of the household could not; children under 15 had their precise ages recorded, while those aged 15 and above had theirs rounded down to the nearest five; questions about the profession of trade of the head of the house followed. Finally, citizens were asked whether they were born in the same country they lived in, or Scotland, Ireland or ‘foreign parts’. The 1841 census of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland was the first to be taken by the General Register Office, and can be seen as a trial run. Ten years later the kinks had been ironed out and, thankfully for our purposes, more information was recorded. The census now gave everyone’s place of birth, precise age and relationship to the head of the household, making it prime source material for us (in 1891 and 1901 a further category was added: people had to admit whether they were (1) deaf and dumb (2) blind, or (3) lunatic, imbecile or idiot.)

A day or two before census night – held in June 1841, either March or April ever since – forms were distributed to the head of the household, usually the father or senior male. A few days later enumerators returned to collect the forms or give assistance to those unable to read or write. Once the questionnaires had been completed and collected, the data was entered into books, records that survive to this day.

A census is a snapshot in time. It reveals where your family was living and with whom on the night it was taken, just pray that your great-great-grandfather did not decide to go on a three day drinking jag the night he got the form, and fail to return or come round until all the forms had been collected. By using and interpreting census returns we can pick up clues about how our ancestors lived, the conditions they lived in, exactly where they lived, track them every ten years to see if they moved or died or simply vanished, and use the information to trace our roots further back in time.


What Can You Learn From A Census

  1. The address at which your relatives lived.
  2. The number of people who lived in the house and their relationship to the head of the house.
  3. Their ages
  4. Their occupations
  5. Their birthplaces


Census Mistakes

You may not be able to find your ancestor in the census. Here are some reasons why.

  1. Five percent of the population don’t appear in a census for one reason or another. For example, people who sleep rough.
  2. People moved around more than we think in the Victorian era, but if someone should have been at a certain address on census night and wasn’t, check the rest of the neighbourhood. Who knows, they might have gone round to friends for a drink that night and not made it home.
  3. Between 5 and 10 per cent of the 1861 census is simply missing.
  4. The enumerator might have misheard or misunderstood that they were told, so individual entries can be wrong: ages can be year or two out, occupations can be inaccurate and birthplaces miss pelt.


Census Lies

The census is not infallible. People didn’t always tell the truth. Here are some of the most common porkies to watch out for.

For some women, time can be an elastic concept. You may find that a female who gives her age as 23 in the 1861 census might miraculously still be only 28 when the 1871 one was taken. Birthplaces can be inaccurate. People often gave the place where they were brought up, or where they had spent most of their life. Sometimes they just didn’t know where they were born, so simply made it up. Children may be listed as scholars. This doesn’t necessarily mean they were at school; they may have been working and their parents didn’t want anyone to know this. Tens of thousands of women earned their living by prostitution. Unsurprisingly, few admitted this to the census.


Hidden Treasures

So we have the whole range of censuses to use. How can we use them? The fact is they provide far more information about our ancestors than birth, marriage and death certificates do. When you find your family members on a census return, look at the surrounding houses and buildings and see how many people were in each of them. This will give you a glimpse into the environment in which your forebears lived. Look at the occupations of other householders in the street; it was common for people engaged in the same type of job to live alongside each other.

If you are seeking a thorough picture of your family, why not track them from 1841 to 1901? This will enable you to gain real insight into your ancestor’s lives, to see how their occupations and living conditions changed. Often the two went hand in hand. For those of you who are aiming to go way back in time, beyond the era of civil registration, the censuses will provide clues to the birth dates of people born before 1837. You can then pinpoint a date and place to aid your search when you come to look through parish records for mentions of christenings and marriages.

Censuses can be used for troubleshooting to maintain momentum in your search, and to help locate that elusive ancestor who seems to have evaded any form of civil registration.


Scotland

The General Register Office at New Register House Edinburgh holds the census returns for Scotland. Most are on microfilm, though the 1891 and 1901 censuses have been digitised and are available online. Excitingly, imaging of the census records for 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 is complete; surname indexes to these are currently being created and will go online are New Register House at some time during 2004.


Ireland

Unfortunately the census returns available at the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin are a bit piecemeal. Many were lost in a fire in 1922, while others – the 1861 and 1871 returns – were deliberately destroyed by the government. However, there are still several returns to search, and you might get lucky.