Basics on British censuses
England and Wales
Census records are an important source for British family history research. They provide a 'snapshot' of the entire population of Britain every ten years. They can therefore be used as a source for narrowing down time periods of births, deaths and marriages in families as well as other events such as changes of occupation and family movements. They can also often help to show an individual within their family unit.
Background
The first official English census was taken in 1801 and the census has been taken every ten years since with the exception of 1941 due to World War Two. The census is always taken on a Sunday and then closed to public access for 100 years. The censuses now on public access were taken on the following dates:
- 6 June 1841
- 30 March 1851
- 7 April 1861
- 2 April 1871
- 3 April 1881
- 5 April 1891
- 31 March 1901
- 2 April 1911
What Census records can tell you
The first census which contains personal details of use to family historians is the 1841 census. That census provides:
- Name
- Age (exact age for children under the age of 16 but rounded down to the nearest five years for those older)
- Whether born in the same county or not.
While this is of some use to family historians, the censuses commencing with that of 1851 are of much more use since they contain, among other information, the following details:
- Name
- Exact age
- Relationship to the head of the household
- Occupation
- Birthplace
Accessing census records and how SAG can help you
In recent years several large online genealogical providers have committed considerable resources to indexing all available national census of England and Wales (1841-1901) and providing online digitised images of these.
Ancestry.co.uk has online an indexed set of transcriptions and images of the various censuses of England & Wales, 1841-1901. http://www.findmypast.com/ has a smaller range of years which it has independently indexed and http://www.origins.net/ also has some census indexes available. Having different data sets available for searching is particularly useful in the case of families where the entries have been difficult to decipher and might have been mis-transcribed in one set.
Members of SAG have access to the databases created by both Ancestry and FindmyPast.com in its library at 2/379 Kent St. Private subscriptions to these companies can also be paid so that researchers have personal access through their home computers - visit the companies' respective websites for more details. SAG's online shop also sells ‘Pay to view' vouchers which allow you to download images from these sites at home without having to subscribe.
Prior to these online resources becoming available, many family history societies throughout England and Wales indexed and/or transcribed census relating to their own area and published these. SAG has an excellent collection of these books and pamphlets and they will be found in the library stack at 120 Kent St. Check our library catalogue for what is available and where it is located.
Ireland
Censuses were taken in Ireland regularly every ten years from 1821. However, almost all the census returns for 1821-51 were lost in the fire that destroyed the Public Record Office of Ireland, Four Courts, Dublin, in 1922. Returns for 1861 and 1871 had already been pulped. Returns for 1881 and 1891 were used as scrap paper during World War I. A few of the enumerators' and householders' returns survived the 1922 fire and these are now preserved in the National Archives of Ireland [NAI], formerly Public Record Office. There are microfilm copies of the Ulster material in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland [PRONI]. Most of this surviving material is for 1821 and gives names, ages, occupations, relationship to householder of all occupants, as well as details of height of house and area of farm. The religious affiliation is not specified.
1901 and 1911 Census
The 1901 and 1911 householders' census returns for all Ireland are held in the National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. It is all microfilmed by the LDS Church and can be ordered for viewing through their Family History Libraries as well as through SAG using our FHL microfilm service. SAG also holds films to the full 1901 census for County Clare in its library stack at 120 Kent St.
The 1911 census also provides the important additional information of the number of years married, number of children born and alive. Be aware that any census taken in the state of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 is subject to a 100 year closure in the same way as the rest of the United Kingdom, so the 1911 census of the six counties of Northern Ireland (Down, Antrim, Armagh, Tyrone, Londonderry, Fermanagh) are not yet released. The returns for Northern Ireland census of 1926 were apparently destroyed during World War II and those for 1937, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981 and 1991 are now deposited in PRONI but subject to closure.
Some counties in Ireland are indexing census material for their areas and placing it online - use GENUKI to locate these online resources.
Census substitutes
The Old Age Pension was introduced in Ireland in 1908, requiring proof of age and place of birth. Since civil registration (of births) did not begin until 1864, such proof was sometimes obtained by making certified copies of an 1841-1851 census return in which the applicant was listed. Such records survive in PRONI and NAI, arranged by barony, and can detail information now destroyed in censuses before 1901.
More detail on this and other Irish census substitutes can be found here.
Scotland
The Scottish Census survives and is on public access for the years 1841-1901. SAG holds the complete 1851 Census on microfilm in its library and a number of print indexes to this, and a smaller collection of 1841 census microfilms.
The Scottish government has indexed, transcribed and digitised all census 1841-1901 and this is available through its official website Scotlands People. This is a ‘pay to view' website and free access to it is not available in SAG's library.
Further information
It is advisable not only for census material but for all other British research to consult GENUKI, the gateway web site for British Isles research.