England Census

England | Civil Registration | Church Records |

The census is a count and description of the population. In effort to determine the extent of its population for the purposes of taxation and representation, the English government took its first large-scale, statistical census enumeration in 1801 as a result of the Population Act of 1800. Pre 1841 census records offer limited information; however, they do put a person in time and place. Few have been published on the internet. The census records that are widely available are for the years 1841 to 1911, and they are considered of great value to family historians. The census was taken every ten years. The records are generally closed to the public for 100 years.

Although the 1841 census is of great value, it had the limitations of not giving relationships, of rounding down the ages of adults (not children), and of not providing specific birthplaces for individuals. The 1851 census provided all the information missing in 1841 and later census gradually added additional information.

The 1931 Census was destroyed by fire during WW2. No census was taken in 1941 due to WW2.

Census Content

Census records may provide:

Names of Individuals
Family relationships
Places of residence
Birthplaces - parish of birth or city
Ages
Occupations

The census can also provide a good approximation of date and place of deaths and marriages. Census records are used in combination with church records and civil registration records in locating ancestors.

Understanding the Census

The 1841 census was taken on 6 June. The censuses taken between 1851 through 1931 were conducted between 31 March and 8 April. Instructions to the census taker were to list only those persons who spent the night in each household when the census was taken. Those traveling, staying at boarding schools, or working away from home were listed where they spent the night. For example, night watchmen are often listed under their employer’s business address rather than with their families.

You will find the following information in the censuses:

1841: 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. Not all census enumerators followed these instructions. Some recorded the exact age; some even rounded the age up to the nearest multiple of 5.

1851 and later: 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. The 1851 and 1861 censuses list whether the people were "blind, deaf, or idiot." The 1871 and 1881 censuses list whether a person was considered an "imbecile, idiot, or lunatic." The 1891 census added the number of rooms (if less than 5) that the family occuped. It also listed whether the person was an employer or an employee. 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 household and a double-diagonal line after the last name in a building. 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. However, these changes and difference are minor and the census details changed little from year to year. There is a detailed listing of the changes made to the census over the years starting in 1841. At GENUKI website you will find an excellent explanation of the census records and availability. (Examples of Census - 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871) NOTE: Many of the websites have not yet updated their pages to include the 1911 census.

Dates of the censuses: 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. The following list gives the nights for each of the major censuses:

1841 -- 6 June 1841
1851 -- 30 March 1851
1861 -- 7 April 1861
1871 -- 2 April 1871
1881 -- 3 April 1881
1891 -- 5 April 1891
1901 -- 31 March 1901
1911 -- 2 April 1911

Pre 1841 Census

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.) 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)

Pre-1841 censuses generally contain only numbers of individuals in a household, but some do contain individual names of the head-of-household.

Registration Districts

The census office organized the censuses by civil registration districts, which were subdivided into enumeration districts. The only exception is the 1841 census which was arranged by hundreds (administrative subdivisions of land). On the census films, each enumeration district includes a title page with the district number and a description of the area covered by the district.

Finding and Using Census Records

For information on finding and using census records, click here.

Finding and Using Census Indexes

For information on finding and using census indexes, click here.