Census


Background to Census Returns

A census has been compiled every 10 years since 1801 (except 1941 due to World War II). The returns consist of counts of the population. The earlier returns 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831 did not tend to record names of individuals. However very occasionally lists of names of individuals for these census dates do exist - sometimes as notes amongst parish records as the head count was undertaken by parish officials. From 1841 names of individuals are recorded, together with other useful information. The 1841 census is less informative than the later ones as it only give the ages of persons over 16 rounded down to the nearest 5 years and it does not give precise details about the place of birth of each person.

Censuses were undertaken on Sunday evenings on the following dates

1841 June 7

1851 March 30

1861 April 7

1871 April 2

1881 April 3

1891 April 5

1901 March 31

Below is a sample page from the 1891 census return

Click on the image to enlarge

The information recorded in the censuses is as follows

1841

Address
Name of person
Approximate age (if over 15, actual age if aged below 15)
Occupation
Whether born in the county of current residence - yes or no

1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901

Address
Name of person
Marital status
Age and sex
Relationship to the head of the household (i.e. wife, son, daughter, servant, visitor etc)
Occupation
Place of birth
Whether blind, deaf, lunatic etc...

The census returns from 1851 onwards are remarkably useful as they give an age and a place of birth. Using this information you can check either for a birth certificate using the indexes to births, marriages and deaths (if the birth took place after 1837) or a baptism entry in a parish register or nonconformist chapel.

Can I look at census returns for the 20th century?

Unfortunately for the genealogist, census returns are kept confidential for 100 years. Though this can be frustrating, there are good reasons for such a long closure period. Census returns contain a lot of personal information and individuals may be unwilling to provide details if they thought it would be publicly available in their lifetime. The latest census available to researchers is 1901, which was made available from 2nd January 2002.

For a list of the census returns in ( format) available at Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies Click here.