FreeCEN
Direct links to free online transcribed census records

Census Records

The census is a snapshot in time.

It will tell you the names and ages of the people staying in a house on the night the census took place. Depending on which year you are looking at, it may also tell you their marital status, and what jobs they did. Not only residents were included, but visitors, lodgers and servants were required to give their details.

Census districts

From 1841 the census was collected and ordered in the same Registration Districts as for births, deaths and marriages. Sub-districts were divided into enumeration districts, and an enumerator had responsibility for collecting information within an enumeration district.

A couple of days before the census, enumerators delivered schedules to each household, then collected them on the day after census day. They transferred the information from the schedules to a Census Enumeration Book (CEB), which might contain as many as 40 or 50 pages. When you view census images, the pages from these books are the images you will see. The original schedules were later destroyed.

Each CEB had pre-printed page numbers in the top outside corner of every page, each commencing at page 1.

Several CEBs were bound into a single book, which was called a 'Piece', and after the Piece was complted a Folio number was stamped on the right-hand corner of every alternate page. Since the Piece is made up of several smaller books, there will be many page number 1's. The Folio numbers, however, run consecutively through the Piece, and this is the number used in referencing.

There could be many hundreds of Pieces to a county, and they were each given a number for reference.

References

A census reference consists of a Year reference, a Piece number, a Folio number, and a Page number. For example RG13/4792/84/1.

The year reference for 1841 and 1851 was HO107; 1861 - RG9; 1871 - RG10; 1881 - RG11; 1891 - RG12; 1901 - RG13.

The format of the census

The first census in England & Wales was held in 1801, and then every 10 years after (except for 1941, during the Second World War).

1801 - 1831 census records were the responsibility of the church, and then in 1837, with Civil Registration, responsibility was handed over to the newly appointed Superintendent Registrars, along with births, marriages and deaths.

The majority of the 1801 - 1831 records have been destroyed, and the first census of any real use to family historians is that of 1841.

The format of the census has evolved over the years. Essentially:

• 1841 - The name, age and sex of members of inhabited households, also occupation. Birthplace was also listed, but only if in the same county. The age of individuals up to 15 was recorded accurately, but the age of anyone over 15 was rounded down to the nearest 5 years (ie, a 44-year-old would be recorded as being 40).
• 1851 - House number and street, name of the head of the family, each person's relationship to the head, age at last birthday and place of birth were included in this census. There was also a column to record whether the person was blind, deaf, or idiot.
• 1861 - Additons include a note of uninhabited buildings in each street.
• 1871 - No relevant changes made.
• 1881 - Marital status was included in this year.
• 1891 - This census asked if persons were an employer, or were employed.
• 1901 - Asked if inhabitants worked at home.

How accurate are the Census Records?

As with bmd indexes, census records are not to be taken as complete or reliable sources of information - there are many omissions and inaccuracies - even in the original schedules.

Because many people couldn't read or write, enumerators often completed the forms on behalf of a household.

So be sure that you remain open-minded when using these records in your research.

Where can I find Census transcriptions?

As with bmd indexes, several organisations are transcribing Census data to make it available online.

None of the free transcription sites are complete yet, but most of them will tell you their coverage to date on their websites.

Try FreeCEN, or my own pages of links to free online transcribed census records.

If you are a member of a family research website, you will easily find all the census records as far as they are available. Don't forget, the latest census online is 1901. Records don't become available for 100 years.

What happened before Civil Registration?

From 1538 until Civil Registration in 1837, the recording of baptisms, marriages, and burials was undertaken by the local parson in each parish. These records are currently held at local County Register offices, and are known as Parish Registers.