England Census: Difference between revisions

'''1841:&nbsp;''' This census lists the members of every household with their name, sex, address, occupation, and whether or not they were born in the county they were living in on June 6, 1841. The census takers were instructed to give the exact ages of the children but to round the ages of those older than 15 down to a multiple of 5. For example, a 59-year-old would be listed as 55.&nbsp; Not all census enumerators followed these instructions.&nbsp; Some recorded the exact age; some even rounded the age up to the nearest multiple of 5.<br>

'''1851 and later:&nbsp;''' These censuses list the names, ages (no longer rounded down), occupations, relationships to the head of the household, and parish and county of birth (except foreign births, which may give country only) of each member of the household.&nbsp; The 1851 and 1861 censuses list whether the people were "blind, deaf, or idiot."&nbsp; The 1871 and 1881 censuses list whether a person was considered an "imbecile, idiot, or lunatic."&nbsp; The 1891 census added the number of rooms (if less than 5) that the family occuped.&nbsp; It also listed whether the person was an employer or an employee.&nbsp; Most of the census records have various marks and checks.&nbsp; These were used by the government workers to collect statistics.&nbsp; The census collector drew a single diagonal line after the last name in a household and a double-diagonal line after the last name in a building.&nbsp; So a F.S. (female servant) or M.S. (male servant) might have a single line before the name and a double line after the name.&nbsp; However, these changes and difference are minor and the census details changed little from year to year. There is a [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/census.html detailed listing] of the changes made to the census over the years starting in 1841. At [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Census.html GENUKI] website you will find an excellent explanation of the census records and availability.&nbsp; (Examples of Census - [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/1841_British_Census_Example 1841], 1851, [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/1861_British_Census_Example 1861], 1871)&nbsp; NOTE: Many of the websites have not yet updated&nbsp;their pages to include the 1911 census.<br>

'''Dates of the censuses''':&nbsp; Since one of the main goals was to avoid double counting people, the civil registration districts were divided into enumeration districts that were small enough for the census taken to complete the collection in one night.&nbsp; The following list gives the nights for each of the major censuses:&nbsp;  

 

1841 -- 6 June 1841

 

1851 -- 30 March 1851

 

1861 -- 7 April 1861

 

1871 -- 2 April 1871

 

 

 

 

1911 -- 2 April 1911

The 1831 census was collated by the census office and the resulting Parish Register Abstracts form an important part of the published census material, because from it alone, the clergymen's manusript returns have survived. The records are held in the Pulic Record Office at Kew under Clergymen's returns of 1831 (HO71/1-HO71/124.)&nbsp;&nbsp;Detailed information on pre-1841 census records can be found in a 84-page book: Chapman, Colin R., 1998 (5th ed.), Pre-1841 Censuses and Population Listings in the British Isles, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. (available in the Family History Library -- see FHL Reference: 942 X27cc 1998)&nbsp; Pre-1841 censuses generally contain only numbers of individuals in a household, but some do contain individual names of&nbsp; the head-of-household. <br>