BRITISH CENSUS RESEARCH & CIVIL REGISTRATION ONLINE

Lorinda Mann                                                                                            lorindam.geo@yahoo.com

 

Reasons you may not find the person you are looking for in census records

  • Transcription or spelling errors [Edmund GROSS listed as Ed GOOSE; George DEARING listed as George DENNING]
  • The difference a space makes [MacSporran vs. McSporran vs Mac Sporran vs Sporran]
  • Nicknames given instead of given names [Edward MANN listed as Ted MANN]
  • Initials were written instead of full names. [William Adams HICKMAN listed as W. A. HICKMAN]
  • You look for someone who is not head-of-household in a head-of-household only index.
  • Ancestors were skipped or missed
  • Too many matches to your search to tell if your ancestor is there. [urban plight]
  • You expect the index to include all towns, but it may not.

 

British Census Records

www.british-genealogy.com/resources/census/cen-contents.html

 

There are some isolated surviving earlier censuses of England for a few places in earlier years of the 1800s, (from 1831), but the first major national census of use to family historians was carried out in 1841. Subsequent censuses were taken every ten years, 1851, 1861 etc. (with the exception of 1941 during World War 2, when no census was taken).

A 100 year rule restricts access to census records. For that reason, the latest census that can be viewed by the public is the 1901 census.

The 1841 Census

A census enumerator's book of the 1841 census contains the following information:

  • Place - Usually a simple address, with little detail.
    .
  • Houses (inhabited and uninhabited) - A count of the number of inhabited and uninhabited houses.
    .
  • Names of each person who abode therein the previous night - First name and surname.
    .
  • Age and Sex (A column for each)
    Ages of those over 20 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years, therefore a person age 44 would be shown as aged 40. Those under 20 years of age were recorded with their proper age. In practice, although the above were the instructions to enumerators, it is relatively common to see the exact age of adults stated.
    .
  • Profession, Trade or Employment, or of Independent Means
  • Whether born in same county
    Simply a Y (born in the same county) or a N
    • If born in Scotland, Ireland or a Foreign Country, Completed where applicable, usually with a S, I, or F.

The censuses from 1851

The 1851 (and later) censuses contained more information than the 1841 census.

The main columns of the census enumerator’s book contained the following:

  • The No. of the Schedule
  • Road, Street, and No. or name of house
    This column was often left blank, except in towns and cities. It would state the name of a part of the village. Usually the house number was omitted.
  • Houses (inhabited or uninhabited)
  • Name and surname of each person
    Starting with the head of household, the wife(if applicable) would be next, then children in descending age order, other people such as visitors, servants, etc. were listed last. "Do." (ditto) was often used to avoid writing out a surname for each person.
  • Relation to head of family: Head [head of household]; Wife [wife of householder]; Son; Dau [Daughter]; Serv [Servant]; Vis [Visitor (a visiting daughter who is not normally a resident, will generally be listed as visitor instead of daughter.)]
  • Condition – Mar [Married]; Unm [Unmarried]; Wid [Widow or Widower]
  • Age (male and female columns)
    Exact age given, but remember that this may not be accurate for various reasons. An exact age may not be known, or, where the wife is older than the husband, her age may be exaggerated.
  • Rank, Profession or Occupation
    There were acceptable abbreviations, for example Ag. Lab. is an agricultural labourer, FWK is a framework knitter. In the case of farmers, the size of the farm would be stated. In the case of an employer, it is usual to state, for example: "employing 4 men"..
  • Birthplace
    Place and county, (or country). This may not always be correct! The person might have thought they were born one place, but only spent their youth in a particular place and thought it was their birthplace.
  • Whether blind, or deaf & dumb
    Stated. e.g. "blind" or "blind from birth".

Research techniques:

  • Limit your search geographically
  • Last name search only if surname is rare [or with geographical limitations if surname is more common such as Smith]
  • Last name search with personal identifying characteristics [age range, sex, race, place of birth, occupation, etc.]
  • Given name search with geographical limitations only.
  • Given name search with geographical limitations and identifying characteristics.
  • Search another name in the household.
  • Search another name that should be listed nearby, such as a neighbor.
  • Search names with a wildcard [rules for wildcard use and their results may vary.]
  • Use a tool that has fuzzy searching [like Ancestry.com’s ranked Best Matches]
  • Search phonetically [via Soundex or Miracode]

 

 

Websites for British Census Records

 

  1. Ancestry.com [www.ancestry.co.uk] -- Subscription based resource of worldwide census, marriage, newspaper and various other records. Includes some free searchable databases.

·         On homepage, click on advanced search.

·         Scroll down page and click on UK and Ireland map

·         A larger map of Britain will appear, then click on England

·         A list of all the databases on Ancestry.com will appear on the left of the page. Like the FHL catalogue, the list will be in categories. Ancestry has censuses from 1861 to 1901.

·         Under census records, click on the census year you want to research. [Try some of the suggestions under ‘Research Techniques.’

 

  1. FamilySearch.org -- The LDS Church provides an online search of the millions of names in its International Genealogical Index, census records, etc.

·         Go to the above website

·         Click on SEARCH tab

·         Click on Census in far left margin of topics

·         Click on census field, highlighting 1881 British Census

·         Click on Census Country field and highlight England

·         Fill in the fields trying some of the ‘Research Techniques.’

 

  1. nationalarchives.gov.uk -- The repository of the UK's national archives. The site includes an online catalogue, research information leaflets and an education centre.

·         Homepage,  point to ‘Search the Archives’ in the red bar near top of page

·         A list of links will appear, click on Census

·         Ancestry.com is referred to for all census records from 1861-1891. 1901 census can be searched on this website by clicking on the 1901 link.

 

  1. genuki.org.uk/ -- GENUKI is the genealogical information service for the UK and Ireland, containing a large structured tree of information.

·         Home page, click on link ‘Enter this large collection’

·         Scroll down and click on the portion of the map of the British Isles that you want to find information

·         Click on shire you want to research.

·         Topics will be listed in same form as FHL. Scroll down to census and links will be listed to other websites involving census records. Some shires have census records online while others do not.

 

  1. www.mit.edu/~dfm/genealogy/census-chart.html -- This page summarizes the availability on online and on CD of indexes, transcripts, and images of the 1841-1901 censuses of England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. There are many which are not listed separately here, including britishorigins.com, thegenealogist.co.uk, and familyhistoryonline.net.

·         Home page, click on any link to explore what is available and what has been done.

·         Click on following link near top of page for ‘Census FAQ’ [very helpful http://homepage.ntlworld.com/barry.ruck/FAQCENSUS.htm]

  1. censusuk.co.uk/ -- Census records for 1851 1871 1881 1891 1901 and the Vital Record Index.

·         Homepage, click on 1871 or 1891 census square; other censuses are limited in availability.

·         Click on ‘Search’ link to come to a screen you will complete to have someone look for requested persons

 

  1. www.freecen.org.uk/ -- This project aims to provide a "free-to-view" online searchable database of the 19th century UK census returns

·         A work in progress, utilizing the help of volunteers to transcribe census records located in one location. It will have a full, searchable transcript of the 1841 census.

·         In left margin, ‘Search the Database’ link will take you to a page of fields to fill out. The webpage has many statistics of what has been done. It still has problems.

 

  1. www.findmypast.com/CensusChooseSearchType.jsp -- This project has a variety of records, including civil registration indexes, military, emigration, and census.

·         Census can be searched by name or by address

·         1841, 1861, 1871, and 1891 censuses available

·         Costs money, but is free at the Family History library 

 

 

Finding a Civil registration Record using Ancestry.com [or FreeBMD.rootsweb.com]

 

  1. Birth Certificate – When a new child is found in a census record, subtract the age from the census year to give you an approximate date of birth. Find the registration district for the birthplace and search civil registration for a five year span.
  2. Marriage Certificate – When a couple appears in a census, search period from eight years before the first child is born until two years after. If there are no children for the couple, search by the name of either the bride or groom for the time period they first appear in the census.
  3. Death Certificate – Search for an ancestor in consecutive census records. When the ancestor doesn’t appear in a census, search the ten years between the census you fund the ancestor in and the one you didn’t find him in. The place of residence in the census you last found your ancestor will be the place you need to find a district for death.
  4. To find a district of jurisdiction you can use the English Imperial Gazetteer at the Family History Library or Family History Center. You could also call the Family History Library and request them to look it up or you could find the Imperial Gazetteer  online at:

 

http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/index.isp

 

  1. Use the civil registration index on Ancestry.com to find the name, quarter, year and district to fill in the information when ordering a certificate. (Not all names are indexed at this time. You may have to go to FreeBMD.rootsweb.com and search page by page if they are not in the index.
  2. Ordering a record online can be done by going to the website below and follow directions to order a certificate. I usually login as a guest.

 

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/

 

 

Use Google.com or another search engine to find other information on the Internet about British census records.  Use the Internet like a reference book to learn and grow from.

Happy Hunting!