Census stuff

There exists (with justification) a great deal of confusion regarding what one can achieve with the various collections of census information. The following sections, provided by various 'Net' denizens, attempt to shed some light.

Census dates
CD Roms
What indices are available?

Some actual census data (fragments)

Article Author
1841 census transcriptions Various contributors
1851 census transcriptions
1861 census transcriptions Various contributors

UK Census dates.

Year Midnight on
1841 Sun/Mon. 6/7th June 1841
1851 Sun/Mon. 30/31st March 1851
1861 Sun/Mon. 7/8th April 1861
1871 Sun/Mon. 2/3rd April 1871
1881 Sun/Mon. 3/4th April 1881
1891 Sun/Mon. 5/6th April 1891
1901 Sun/Mon. 31st March 1901
1911* Sun/Mon. 2/3rd April 1911
*(Not available before 1st Jan 2012)

Availability on CD Rom

At the moment, the only full census for the United Kingdom (excl. Ireland ), is the 1881 Census available from the Latter Day Saints. (For our English cousins, there is also the complete census for 1851, for the counties of Devon, Norfolk and Warwickshire, also from the LDS.)  They also produce the British Vital Records C.D. which  ..." contains information on more than 4.7 million christenings, births, and marriages that occurred in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland from 1500 to 1888. This information came from British church and vital records collected as a part of the church's extraction program. The amount of information varies greatly by time period and locality. " ...

Indices

(i) 1891 and 1901 Census : Scotland

Indexed for the whole of Scotland.  Computerised index available at New Register House in Scotland, or centres with an on-line link to Edinburgh; or via the Scotlands People web site.

(ii) The 1881 census index

This is available on CD-ROM for England, Scotland and Wales. It is possible, but can be a bit time-consuming, to search for a particular address: you search usually by name.  If you are askking someone else to look something up for you, then it helps if you can give approximate date of birth, and have some idea of where the people might be living, unless the name is very unusual.  Any other information, such as names of spouses, siblings, etc., or occupations, helps to work out which is the right person. so do give as much detail as possible about the person you're after.

(iii) 1851 census index for Norfolk, Devon and Warwickshire

For these three counties only, the 1851 census is also available on CD-ROM, so look-ups are fairly straightforward.  Comments apply as for  1881 above.

(iv) Other areas and other dates, 1841 to 1891

Family history societies (FHSs) have produced census indexes for many areas for 1851 and for some areas for other dates.  The relevant ones are often available in local studies libraries. The Society of Genealogists library in London has copies of many census indexes.

You may be able to buy these FHS indexes on fiche or in booklet form, or for a small fee, get the FHS to do a look-up for you.  The information varies greatly: some include a full transcript of the census entry, while others just list the census page numbers where a particular surname occurs.  Not all areas have been indexed, and not all census dates.

To find out whether the census for a particular area and date have been indexed, check the latest edition of the book called "Marriage and Census Indexes for Family Historians" by Jeremy Gibson and Elizabeth Hampson.  It will tell you who holds the index and how much look-ups cost.  There are always new indexes coming out, so keep an eye on publications like "Family Tree Magazine" and "Genealogists Magazine" for details of new ones.

Also, check the relevant pages of GENUKI at http://www.genuki.org.uk/mindex.html  to see what is available for the county or parish where your ancestors lived. Look to see if the relevant FHS has a website detailing their publications.

If you want a look-up in the census enumerators' books themselves, then you will need to give the exact address or PRO reference number, unless the people were living in a very small village.  It takes a very long time to look through street after street for a particular family, and it is asking too much to expect people to do this for you for nothing. There are plenty of agents who will do this for you (see adverts in "Family Tree Magazine" etc.)

The Scottish Genealogy Society has a fair number of indices available for purchase. Take a look at http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/.

Des Garrity has done a lot of work on the 1851 and 1861 census with particular reference to Lanarkshire. You can find him at
1851 - http://www.desgarrity.co.uk/51c.html
1861 - http://www.desgarrity.co.uk/61c.html

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