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1871 Census

This page covers the 1871 census for England and Wales. It was taken the night of Sunday 2 April 1871.

What does it contain?

The information you will find is as follows:

  • Address
  • Whether it is inhabited or not
  • Name
  • Relation to head of household
  • Whether married, unmarried or widowed
  • Age
  • Whether male or female
  • Rank, profession or occupation
  • Place of birth
  • Whether deaf-and-dumb, blind, imbecile or idiot, or lunatic – an imbecile/idiot had the mental age of a child, while a lunatic had periods of lucidity, in the eyes of the census.

How do I find my ancestor?

If you subscribe to a site, such as ancestry.co.uk, you can consult their person index for the 1871 census. These have been compiled by transcribers. As many returns were hard to read, your ancestor’s name may have been transcribed wrongly. Therefore, you may have to use some ingenuity in your search.

If you can’t find the person you are interested in, you can try browsing the actual census returns for the place you think they were living.

How do I find a place?

The reference used by the National Archives for the 1871 census is RG10 (RG 10). If you would like to find the reference for a particular place, search the National Archives’ catalogue for the 1871 census. Set the year range to 1871-1871. Type in RG10 as the series code. Then enter the place name.

What places are missing?

Here is a list of counties with the parishes that are missing:

England...

  • Lancashire – Preston (part missing).

  • Leicestershire – Leicester St Margaret (part missing).

  • Yorkshire – Eastoft, Haldenby.

Wales...

  • Brecknockshire – Talgarth (part of Grwyne-fechan missing).

  • Glamorganshire – Llandilotalybont (part missing).


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