Census - England & Wales

Can you find your ancestor on the census? If so, you may discover his or her age, place of birth, occupation and people he or she was living with on the night. It can help you to discover siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.

There has been one every ten years since 1801 (other than 1941).

RAF recruits at Torquay 1943

These RAF recruits at Torquay in 1943 missed out in 1941 – the census was cancelled due to the war.

The returns for 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 were mostly destroyed. The returns are only released to the public after 100 years. Therefore, you will be interested in

The information you will glean is slightly different for each one – click on the year to find the information.

Where will I find the census?

The originals are held at the National Archives in Kew. However, these have been filmed and are now available online and on CDs. In addition, name indexes are available to help you locate ancestors.

Tip
You can consult the 1881 indexes for free, at the LDS's index for the 1881 census. However, rather than just consult indexes, you are better to view the actual returns from the enumerator. For free access, phone your local library. They may have a subscription allowing you to access online databases.

How is a census is taken?

The enumerator dropped off individual household schedules to every householder. The householder filled in who was in their household that night. In the morning, the enumerator collected the schedule. He checked that the householder had filled in the form correctly, and if necessary questioned them further, filling in the form himself if the householder were illiterate. The enumerator then filled in his census book. These books are what have survived – not the individual household schedule.

I can’t find my ancestor. Why?

Not all returns have survived. Was your ancestor living in one of these areas? Click on the year links above (under the photo) to check.
Not everyone was included – they may have been overlooked for many reasons. The enumerator may even have forgotten to pick up the census form.
Perhaps your ancestor has gone abroad?
Have you been relying on a name index? The transcription may be wrong. Try different search techniques to find your ancestor.
The name may appear wrongly on the enumerator’s schedule. Many people were illiterate, and enumerators spelt the name phonetically.

Example
My great great grandfather, Richard Vizard, appears on the 1861 forms as Richard Visit. The head of the household was his father-in-law, William Williams. Perhaps William was illiterate, or perhaps the enumerator could not read William’s writing, so transcribed the name wrongly into his schedule. Either way, if you are searching using a name index, you may need some creativity to find your ancestor.

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