England Census

England  |  Civil Registration  |  Church Records  |

Introduction

The census is a count and description of the population. In an 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 more complete in information, more widely available, and therefore of greater value to family historians are those for the years 1841 to 1911.  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.

For more details, read England Census: Further Information and Description.

Understanding the Census

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: 

• Names of the members of every household
• Their sex/gender
• Ages (for adults 15 and up, rounded down to the lower multiple of 5)
• Address
• Occupations
• Whether or not they were born in the county in which they were living in on June 6, 1841
  

1851 and later: 

• Names of each member of the houshold
• Ages (no longer rounded down)
• Relationships to the head of the household
• Occupations
• Parish and county of birth (except foreign births, which may give country only)
• The 1851 and 1861 censuses list whethera person was "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. 

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.

For more details, go to England Census: Further Information and Description.

Census details changed little from year to year.  See a detailed listing of the changes made to the census over the years starting in 1841. At the 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.

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 at The National Archives of the UK under 'Clergymen's returns of 1831' (HO71/1-HO71/124.)  Detailed information on pre-1841 census records can be found in:

• Chapman, Colin R., Pre-1841 Censuses and Population Listings in the British Isles.  Dursley, Gloucestershire, England : Lochin Publishing, 1998 (5th ed). (Family History Library book 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.

For more details, read England Census: Further Information and Description .

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.