A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CENSUS RETURNS

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Every 10 years since 1801 the Government has taken a Census - details of everyone living in this country on one particular day. This snapshot is intended to provide vital statistical information for forward planning, and gradually over the years the complexity of the information collected has increased.

First of all, there are no "original census records". What were called "Household Schedules" were delivered to each household a few days before the census date, a person called an Enumerator then collected the schedules in the days after the census date. What we are left with are the census returns, the Enumerator's interpretation of what the householder wrote on those schedules.

Census returns are also of great importance to the Family Historian. For reasons of confidentiality only Census returns over 100 years old can be seen by the public.

The first Census in England and Wales was held in 1801. There had been earlier attempts, but these had failed due to religious and libertarian objections. The information collected was of very limited scope, as was that in 1811,1821 and 1831. The Census returns for those years 1801 - 1831 were all officially destroyed once the statistical information had been extracted. In some instances local copies of the census schedules do survive, but these are very rare.

1841 is the first year for which Census returns survive for the whole country. In this and subsequent years the Census was taken on a Sunday evening.

The Census dates were:
1841 - Taken 6 June
1851 - Taken 30 March
1861 - Taken 7 April
1871 - Taken 2 April
1881 - Taken 3 April
1891 - Taken 5 April
1901 - Taken31 March

All the above Censuses are now available to the public. However, to search the microfilm in public record offices/libraries etc; you need to know where the person was living, as no surname index is held.

The 1911 Census (taken on 2 April) will not be made public until 2012.

There was no Census in 1941 because of the war.

WHAT INFORMATION WAS RECORDED?:

1841 ANOMALIES.

The 1841 Census provides rather less information than later ones, and some of it can be a little confusing.  In 1841 the Census Enumerator asked the head of each household to record:

*The address
*Names of all persons present in the household
*Their ages - this had to be the exact age for children up to 15, but confusingly ages over 15 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years so people could be conveniently recorded in ‘age bands’ for statistical purposes. For example, a person recorded as 30 years old could be either 30, 31.32, 33 or 34!

*Occupations of everyone in the house - children were often recorded as scholars.
*Is the individual now living in the county of their birth. The answer was either yes "Y" or no "N", or "S" for Scotland, "I" for Ireland or "F" for a foreign country.

In 1851 and subsequent Censuses the Enumerators asked for additional information:

*Relationship to the head of the household - Wife, son, daughter, domestic servant etc.
*Place of birth - the actual town and county.
*Condition - meaning married, widowed etc.
*Whether bind, deaf and dumb.

SCOTTISH CENSUSES
The 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1881 Scottish censuses are transcriptions only.


IRISH CENSUSES
Although Irish Censuses date back to 1821 none survive before 1901. This and the 1911 Census can be seen at the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 7. Neither have been transcribed, so they cannot be searched by name.


ANCESTORS MISSING FROM CENSUSES
They may simply not have been at home on the day of the Census, if they were working away, travelling or on holiday they should have been recorded by the Census where they were staying. In 1841 night-workers not at home on the Sunday evening of the Census were not included, from 1851 onwards they were. Likewise the crews of ships in port and boats on inland waterways were not recorded in 1841, but should have been from 1851 onwards.

There was a widespread, but mistaken, belief that very young infants particularly those not yet baptised should not be included on the returns. As a result up to 6% of children may have gone unrecorded.

Sometimes families would deliberately deceive the Enumerator as to the number of their children because they were afraid of being accused of domestic overcrowding. Often though, older children are not recorded because they had left home to work as domestic servants etc. Ages of children were often exaggerated so at to overcome legislation ob the ages that children could go out to work

Children of re-married widows or illegitimate children are often found recorded with their step father's surname when they should have given their original surname. They were also often described as "in-laws"

MISTAKES MADE IN PRODUCING CENSUS RETURNS.

In many cases, the original schedule was filled in by a child rather than by the head of the household. The reason is simple. During the 1800s the children went to school, or Sunday school, and learned to read and write, whereas parents (of the older generation) could often not be able to read and write.

Many persons are missed from all censuses, sometimes the enumerator did not collect the form, or if the householder was not in when the enumerator called, he did not call back at a later date.

The quality of Enumerators varied a great deal. The original schedules had to be completed by the head of each household, these have now been destroyed. What we are left with are the returns, the Enumerator's interpretation of what the householder wrote on those schedules.

Often the householders would be illiterate, in which case the Enumerator had to write what he was told, giving ample scope for misunderstandings and errors, i.e. "White" could be entered as "Whyte" Wite, Wight etc; More mistakes could creep in as the enumerator copied the schedules into his "enumerators book", now called the Census Returns.

Enumerators often entered a birth place on the first line of his book, then "ditto" all the way to the bottom of the page, hence many birth places are listed incorrectly. To save themselves work, enumerators also did the same in the address column, or in villages or hamlets, they just entered "Village"

Persons also entered their earliest recollection of where they lived as their birthplace, which may not have been their actual birthplace or the correct registration district. In farming communities, it is also common for a persons birth place to be entered as the name of the farm where they worked, or owned. Many people also did not know their exact age.

Those who worked at sea were also often missed from a census,

The districts used by the Enumerators may not be the same as modern boundaries. The enumeration districts were based on Hundreds or Poor Law Unions which, of course, no longer exist. Boundary changes may have moved your ancestor's home to a different town or even another county.

Despite these fairly minor problems Census Returns are of great value to the Family Historian, they provide a wealth of information about an individual, whilst also putting them in their family and social context.

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