British Isles DNA by County

Census Records

Resources

Content by
Linda Jonas ©2006

Census records began in England, Wales, and Scotland in 1801 under an Act of Parliament specifying the format that was to be used. From 1801 to 1831 names were not required to be recorded, but some enumerators did record names in order to count the numbers of the males and females that were to be tabulated. Starting in 1841 the names of all the inhabitants of each household were enumerated.

The 1841 census gives the exact age for children under age 15 and approximate ages rounded down to the nearest 5 for all others. It also gives sex, occupation, and whether born in the county where enumerated (Y for yes, N for no) or in another country (I for Ireland, S for Scotland, F for foreign parts).

In 1851 (and onward) the exact ages were given (as reported to the census taker), the relationship to the head of the household, and marital status. The exact place of birth (parish or town and county) was provided for those who were not foreign born.

The 1851 - 1901 censuses for England and Wales are indexed and available online through Ancestry.com.  If you do not have a subscription to Ancestry.com, you can use it free at most Family History Centers and at many public libraries. The 1861 and 1891 censuses are available online at 1837 Online.com. The 1841 and 1871 censuses are available online at Originsnetwork.com

If you will be ordering the census on microfilm at any Family History Center, use microfiche #6024509 to find the film and fiche numbers for the census of all places in England and Wales for each census year.

The register of towns indexed by streets for England and Wales is on microfiche #6026692.

Census Street indexes for England and Wales

*  N.B.:  Each of these is a large series of microfilms or microfiche.  Only the first film/fiche number is given so that you can find the series in the Family History Library Catalog.