England Census: Further Information and Description
There is a lot to learn about the census records. The following web sites provide more details:
- Census Returns leaflet number 99 produced by The National Archives in England
- Census Records: Search Census Records produced by The National Archives in England.
- Census
- FreeUKGEN
- UK Census Online
The Census Takers
The man who collected the census details was called an 'enumerator'. He was assigned to visit a specific area or number of streets with the purpose of leaving a form that was to be filled out on the night of the census. Information about everyone in the house on that night – family, relatives, boarders and visitors – were to be listed. The enumerator went back in the next few days and gathered the forms. An article written by Guy Etchells explains in detail the instructions given to enumerators.
Dates the Censuses Were Taken
Since one of the main goals was to avoid double counting people, the enumeration districts were small enough for an enumerator to complete his work in one day. Censuses were taken on specific dates. The following list gives the dates for each of the available census years:
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Arrangement of the Census
Census returns are arranged in columns. Column titles are:
- Place or street address
- Name of each person living in the abode on the night of the census
- Relationship to the head of the household
- Age and sex, arranged by males and females
- Profession, trade or employment
- Where born
Identifying Terminology
A number of terms are on a census page. Here are a few.
- RG or HO numbers
- Hundred (in the 1841 census)
- Enumeration districts
- Civil parish
- Ecclesiastical parish
- Page and folio numbers
Relationships Given in the Census
Relationships are important when putting a family unit together. The most oft-used relationships in the census were:
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Markings Used in the Census
Most of the census records have various marks and checks. These were used by the government workers to collect statistics. The census collector drew a single diagonal line ( / ) after the last name in a family or household and a double diagonal line ( // ) after the last name in a building or housing unit. So a female servant (F.S.) or male servant (M.S.), who was not a member of the family with which he/she was residing, might have a single line before their name and a double line after the name.
Ages in the 1841 Census
The census takers were instructed to give the exact ages of children but to round the ages of those older than 15 down to a lower multiple of 5. For example, a 59-year-old person would be listed as 55. Not all census enumerators followed these instructions. Some recorded the exact age; some even rounded the age up to the nearest multiple of 5.
Learn more about English censuses by taking the FamilySearch online lesson about Census Records, and reading A copy of the Act for Taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain [w10 August 1840.
Enumerators recorded information in varying ways. Here are some of them.
- Listing the given name first followed by the surname.
- Listing the surname first followed by the first name.
- Abbreviating the last name or place name as “do”. This abbreviation means "the same as the above" last name or place name.
- Abbreviating the relationship to the head of the household, such as Daur for daughter.
- Abbreviating the name of county, such as Wilts for Wiltshire.
- Abbreviating the condition, such as M (married), U or Un (unmarried), W (widow or widower).
- Abbreviating the names of occupations, such as FWK as frame work knitter.
Some census pages have marks or slashes through information on the page. These were put there by a person who was making a count or summary of the data for statistical purposes. Handwriting is sometimes hard to read. One way to help with this dilemma is to compare unreadable letters or words with other ones on the same page or a page before or after.
It is helpful to understand The National Archives and the General Register Office catalog numbers. These numbers are written on the bottom or side of each census page. They refer to the office that was responsible for collecting the records, and are helpful when searching them. The numbers help if you were looking in a census index and wanted to find the information on a census page.
Here are the numbers for each census year. The letters “HO” stand for Home Office; the letters “RG” refer to the General Register Office.
1841 census: HO 107
1851 census: HO 107
1861 census (RG 9)
1871 census (RG 10)
1881 census (RG 11)
1891 census (RG 12)
1901 census (RG 13)
1911 census (RG 14)
For your information, the 1911 census is the most recent one available to the public.