1. Making Sense of the Census
Moseley Churchyard Heritage Project – Stories from the Stones

2. Census
First modern census taken in 1801 and continued every 10 years except (WWII)
: Very few survive - check county & local archives
: Held at National Archivew – Widely available online
1921 – closed records for 100 years
1931 – destroyed during WWII
1941 – no census taken
1951 onwards - closed records for 100 years
What is a Census?
A census is a statistical count of the population of a country taken for the purpose of accurate government representation, tax collection and military purposes. The first complete census in England was conducted in 1086 under William the Conqueror - As the new king, he wanted an accounting of land owners who held lands belonging to the crown along with the number of owned livestock. This is the famous Domesday Book. Not much use as a genealogical tool for most of us as if you’ve successfully and correctly traced your family back to a named individual in the 11th Century you really don’t need to be here.
So we’re concentrating on those that are a little more recent.
Censuses taken to obtain statistics for various reasons, including population studies, accessing military readiness, compiling lists of eligible voters, and tracking relief to the poor.
The 1st modern British census was taken in 1801 – and continued every 10 years since then.

3. 1841 onwards…. Population Act of 1840 (3 & 4 Vivt., c.99)
Created post of Registrar General
Census Registration Districts based on civil registration districts (from 1851)
Subdivided into Enumeration Districts (EDs)
each district being an area that could be enumerated in a day
Temporary Enumerators employed by registrars
Household Schedules introduced
Individuals named & details included in household schedules
The earliest census to be of more use to family historians because the surviving records cover the whole of Britain and include nominal data ie names is that for 1841.
The 1840 Population Act was the introduced the post of Registrar General – and the census came under the aegis of the General Register Office which had been established in 1837.
Instead of looking at Parishes the census had RDs based on civil registration districts which themselves were based mainly on poor law union districts. These districts in many cases cross traditional parish and county boundaries which can cause some problems when trying to locate your ancestors.
The districts were subdivided into Enumeration Districts which were given numbers.
Each ED had a temporary enumerator who was appointed by the registrar. Generally it was clergy, teachers or businessmen who volunteered as enumerators as they had the required level of literacy to complete the forms.
The Act also introduced changes to the questions that were to be asked and introduced household schedules.

4. How were censuses compiled
35000 Enumerators appointed to gather information (in 1841)
Door-to-door
Conducted on single day
Listed only those who spent night in household
Details transcribed into Census schedules
Schedules collated and arranged by
Enumeration District
Civil parish
County
Census day in 1841 was 6 June. Enumerators (35000 in 1841) went door to door collecting the data in census books. Each householder was directed to complete the form in respect of all persons sleeping in the house on Sunday 6 June, before the arrival of the enumerator on the following day, the penalty for failure to comply with these instructions being a fine of not less than 40 shillings and not more than £5. This innovation reduced the chance of omissions or double entries and assisted the endeavour to complete the numbering of the people in one day.
The task of the enumerator after census day was to ensure as far as possible the correct and complete return of the schedule. Later he had to transfer the answers to his own schedule.
The census takers listed only those who spent the night in each household, so individuals who were traveling or at school were listed where they spent the night. Soldiers and sailors ashore in Great Britain were enumerated at their barracks or places of residence and entered under the parishes in which they slept or abode on the night of June 6. In ,016 persons were returned as travelling on railways and could be attributed to no particular locality.
Details of individual households were entered onto the Census schedules - large sheets with preprinted rows and columns. The schedules are arranged by county and then divided by civil parish, while some are further subdivided into smaller enumeration districts,. The only exception to this is the 1841 census, which was arranged by “hundreds” (administrative subdivisions of land. The enumerators' schedules, after being examined by the registrars and submitted to, and counter-signed by, the superintendent registrars, were then sent to the General Register Office
The individual household schedules were destroyed – what remains are the enumerators’ books. The original schedules are well preserved and housed at the National Archives in Kew. Microfilm copies are located at the Family Records Centre in England, and at county record offices and some libraries. They are also widely available on the internet – indexes may be free to search but you will generally have to pay to view the image.
Censuses taken between 1851 and 1931 were conducted on a single day, sometime between March 31 and April 8.

5. When were the censuses taken?
1841 Sunday 6 June
1851 Sunday 30 March
1861 Sunday 7 April
1871 Sunday 2 April
1881 Sunday 3 April
1891 Sunday 5 April
1901 Sunday 31 March
1911 Sunday 2 April
1841 only census taken in June. June 6th was during the harvest – it was a fine night and good weather for hay making. - Concerns that many agricultural workers away from home during summer months and therefore may not have been found by enumerators if they were on the road seeking work – could be sleeping rough etc Alternatively may be recorded in places other than their usual habitation and therefore be missed in your search.
Also skewed results for urban/rural statistics. So since then have always been either last Sunday in March or first Sunday in April – avoiding Easter.

6. Moseley Enumeration District - 1841
Superintendent Registrars District:Kings Norton
Registration District of Kings Norton
No. of Enumeration District 7
All that part of the Parish of Kings Norton which lies on the East side of the Turnpike Road leading from Kings Heath to the Balsall Heath on the North of the road leading from Kings Heath to Moseley Wake Green the south and west sides the boundaries of the the Parish of Kings Norton.

7. 1841 Census – and it’s limitations
Address may be limited
Name
Age (rounded to
nearest 5)
Occupation (limited categories)
Born in the county – Yes/No
Born in the Country –Yes/No
This example is from Moseley and shows the households in central Moseley village. The Ref number can be seen on the paper strip to the side – these were added prior to microfilming of the records. The class number is HO107 (HO for Home Office and 107 applies to all 1841 census records) Piece1197 Book 22 – all on the strip. The Folio number – 16 – can be seen stamped on the top right. And at the top of each page is the page number – 23 on left and 24 on right.
Most of your searching will probably be online but there may be occasions when you want to follow up specific references or use census indexes if they have been prepared for the areas of interest to you and you have drawn a blank with online searching.
Address - No street numbers – nor even street names! (not because missed out but street numbering not common until later in 19th C) Names - only the surname and first name - instructions were for no middle names Age – should be rounded down to nearest five years  - for adults (But some enumerators provide exact ages whereas others misunderstood instructions and rounded up) Occupation - this one more thorough than many. List of occupations given to enumerator & he was expected to match the person to a particular category. Note abbreviations – MS = male servant, FS=Female Servant, Ag Lab There’s a list of some abbreviations used in your handout. Born (county) - question only answered by a yes or a no if the person was born in the county where he/she was, on the night of the census. Not always reliable! Born (country) - question only answered by a yes or a no if the person was born in the country where he/she was, on the night of the census.

8. More limitations of 1841 census
Harvest night – missing Ag Labs
Non Enumeration - Seamen working offshore & Armed forces abroad
Relationships not recorded
Enumerators recording incorrect information
Lost census returns
Legibility
written in pencil
Enumerators tally marks
Mistranscriptions
We’ve already touched on the date of the 1841 census – June 6th and reasons for missing or unlocated Ag Labs
There were also certain groups who were simply not enumerated – including Seaman working offshore & Armed forces outside UK
The households can be identified by use of the tally marks – but the relationships of the individuals within the household are not stated and therefore can only be inferred. Sometimes straightforward but man & woman with same surnames may be married – but they could be siblings! Individuals with different surnames could be servants (check occupation) but could also be family members.
As we’ve seen the enumerator collected the household schedules and then copied them into his enumerators book – this can introduce errors simply through copying out data – particularly when working to a tight deadline. Illiteracy levels were high so in many cases the householder wouldn’t have been able to complete the schedule – the enumerator would have had to ask the questions and write down answers himself – another potential source of error.
Some census returns – the Enumerators Books never reached the Registrar General – in Scotland there are great swathes of Fife parishes missing because the ferry boat carrying them across the Forth sank! Several London parishes are missing – there is a list on the Ancestry page for the 1841 census – and I’ve put the link on the website list.
A major problem with the 1841 census is that it was written in pencil rather than pen. This has resulted in many faded pages which have proved unreadable on microfilm – Ancestry have rescanned some problem pages in colour to improve the legibility.
The clerks who compiled and reviewed the census data made a variety of marks on the returns. Unfortunately, many of these tally marks were written over personal information and some fields, such as ages, can be difficult to read as a result.

9. 1851-1901 Census End March/Early April
Merchant Seaman & Armed forces included
Linked more closely to civil registration districts
Marital status & Family relationships included
Exact ages & date of birth
Occupational data improved (Particularly for women)
Recorded in pen
Disability included
No. of rooms question added in 1861
1851 some new changes introduced which make them much more useable for family historians from that date.
Date switched – as we’ve seen all census taken at end March of beg of April to avoid the missing Ag Labs.
Address  Names - the surname and first name, and sometimes the middle name or initial 
Marital status Age  Occupation  Born (county) - name of county given  Born (country) - name of country given  Relationship to head of household  Condition of marriage  Disability - "blind, deaf-and-dumb in Expanded to include idiot in 1861 In 1871 this was imbecile/idiot or lunatic in 1871 
Once the 1881 census was fully compiled, officials noted that there was an alarming rise in the number of individuals being reported as "deaf and dumb", when compared to previous census returns. After enquiries were made, it transpired that many enumerators had recorded babies as being deaf and dumb simply because they could not speak!
Additionally, where the 1891 and 1901 census was taken in Wales, the census included a question on the language spoken.
1871 specific colonial census taken in India and other British colonies but data is statistical
It was not until the census of 1891 that women were allowed to volunteer as enumerators.

10. 1851-1901 Census End March/Early April
Merchant Seaman & Armed forces included
Linked more closely to civil registration districts
Marital status & Family relationships included
Exact ages & date of birth
Occupational data improved (Particularly for women)
Recorded in pen
Disability included
No. of rooms question added in 1861
1851 some new changes introduced which make them much more useable for family historians from that date.
Date switched – as we’ve seen all census taken at end March of beg of April to avoid the missing Ag Labs.
Address  Names - the surname and first name, and sometimes the middle name or initial 
Marital status Age  Occupation  Born (county) - name of county given  Born (country) - name of country given  Relationship to head of household  Condition of marriage  Disability - "blind, deaf-and-dumb in Expanded to include idiot in 1861 In 1871 this was imbecile/idiot or lunatic in 1871 
Once the 1881 census was fully compiled, officials noted that there was an alarming rise in the number of individuals being reported as "deaf and dumb", when compared to previous census returns. After enquiries were made, it transpired that many enumerators had recorded babies as being deaf and dumb simply because they could not speak!
Additionally, where the 1891 and 1901 census was taken in Wales, the census included a question on the language spoken.
1871 specific colonial census taken in India and other British colonies but data is statistical
It was not until the census of 1891 that women were allowed to volunteer as enumerators.

11. Enumeration District Description 1861 Moseley
We’re going to look at an Enumerator’s Book in more detail. This is one from 1861 for part of In Ancestry go to Advanced search and find the browse boxes on the right hand side and you can drill down for the individual Enumeration District. Alternatively go to the 1st image in the image set – I’ll show you how to do this a little later…..
This is the first page and gives an overview of the Enumeration District
Enumerator's return (household), enumeration district 10, Kings Norton, Kings Norton
Superintendent Registrar’s District Kings Norton, Registrar’s Sub District Kings Norton
Enumeration District (ED) 10
Name of Enumerator: Mr James Bullock
Part of the parish of Kings Norton
Comprising the whole of the Houses in the East side of the Road from Alcester Lanes End to Trafalgar Road Moseley on the South of Lower Trafalgar Road then taking a straight line across to Stoney Lane then continuing the boundary of the Parish up Stoney Lane, Bulley Lane and so on to the Haunch Lane then the north side the Haunch Lane to Alcester Lanes End Including the East side Kings Heath Village, Moseley, Upper Trafalgar Road, Blayney Street both sides Cottons Lane etc…

12. 1861 Census – Moseley
1861

13. 1871 Census - Moseley
Shows entry for Pattison family of Heathfield House in 1871.

14. 1881 Census – St Mary’s Row
More details of address – but often names of buildings still not street numbers.

15. Known Issues 1851 to 1901
Damaged returns – particularly Manchester in 1851
Navy & Army returns administered separately in 1851 and some losses
3% of 1861 returns missing
Quality of Enumerators
Accuracy of data
1891 – Easter vacation for schools & universities
East European Immigration late 19th C
Losses and damage during storage – particularly affected the Manchester records for Not microfilmed. But have now been digitally scanned and indexed. The Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society recovered tens of thousands of names working on a small scale to prove the technology. Ancestry.com used forensic and photographic techniques on a large scale to take names from records, which are unreadable by the naked eye because of mold and water damage. The process yielded abt 165,000 names that weren’t previously available.
Different systems for gathering information re navy & army – not through the District Registrars and there are some losses
For various reasons at least 3 & of the 1861 returns are known to missing
Task of recruiting suitably qualified temporary enumerators became harder. Originally paid flat fee but the distances involved in rural areas made this somewhat inequitable. In urban areas enumeration districts could have up to 400 people. Fees increased in Mainly clerics, schoolmasters etc but vast numbers needed and in some cases the role was covered by men who may have been fairly uneducated themselves.
Accuracy – thought to improve over time. Linked partly to increases in literacy. Evidence of inaccuracy can come from the statistical returns. In 1881 the report highlighted fact that wives outnumbered husbands by 61,064
1891 Easter vacation – pupils & students may be away from home/scool/university & pop up in unexpected places
Language difficulties etc mean many Jewish immigrants in East London for example not enumerated – or major issues with names!

16. 1911 Census First census for which Householders schedules survive
No requirement for Enumerators to copy data
But Enumerators summary books - available on Ancestry
Fertility & Child mortality questions
Additional Employment questions
Statistics tabulated by machine – punched cards
Boycotted by many suffragettes
 For censuses prior to 1911, the householders’ forms were destroyed, and the enumerator’s books are all that survive. However, in 1911, for the first time the actual householders’ forms—typically in their own handwriting—were preserved as well. These are the records contained in this database. They may occasionally include details that were not asked for and would not have been carried over into the enumerators’ books, such as names of children who had died or members of the family who were away on census night.
Information requests new to the 1911 census were the ‘fertility census’ and occupational questions.
Fertility questions included how long a present marriage had lasted, the number of children born alive to the present marriage (including children no longer living in the household), and number of children who had died.
Questions about employment were meant to give the government a general idea of which industries were in decline and which were growing; however, many people provided far more information than was needed, recording the name and sometimes address of their employer in addition to the industry that employed them. The added data from these questions can be immensely helpful to genealogical researchers by providing an entire family count, a number of children both living and deceased, names of stepchildren under other marriages, and facts about the culture and living conditions of their ancestor.
The 1911 Census was the first in which machines were used for purposes of tabulation in Great Britain. From 1841 to 1901 it had been part of the duties of each enumerator to copy the replies to the questions on the house¿holder's schedules into his Enumeration Book from which the census tables were then prepared. The introduction of machine tabulation made it necessary to code most of the particulars and this was done direct from the schedules themselves; the process of copying was omitted and the chances of error therefore lessened. On completion of the coding, the schedules passed into the hands of machine operators who recorded the coded information on special cards by punching holes in appropriate numbered positions. Particulars relating to any one individual were recorded on 'personal cards' and material needed for the fertility analysis was recorded on a second set. A third set was used to assemble, from summaries made by the numerators, details of population and buildings in each enumeration district. This process was followed by machine tabulation carried out in two stages by means of two other machines which (i) sorted all the cards with holes in certain identical positions and (ii) counted the cards thus sorted.
Another unusual feature of the 1911 census is the absence of some women’s names. In 1911, women had not yet been given the right to vote in England. As part of the campaign for women’s suffrage, many suffragettes protested by refusing to be counted in the 1911 census. They carried out their protest in two ways: either the woman (or her husband) did not fill out the census form, writing only her complaint on it, or she stayed away from the house the entire night of the census taking. In both cases details on women of these households will be missing from the records. The exact number who boycotted the census is not known, but it has been estimated at several thousand.

17. “Children loved him and he was kind to animals”
Example of a 1911 Census
Unusual Features of the 1911 Census
1911 Census of Brodie Family –
R M Brodie buried in churchyard – Grave 169
R M BRODIE 1889 to 1960
“Children loved him and he was kind to animals”
Useful information re occupation and type of industry operating in. Ages, marital status and place of birth. Length of marriage useful in searching marriage indexes. Ages and places of birth useful in locating birth – and sometimes baptism – records.
Distinct features: 1 page per household – filled in by householder not the enumerator. The enumerators coding etc written in coloured ink afterwards.
Interested in fertility so asked specific questions re length of marriage and numbers of children born - & died!
Usual occupation questions & place of birth.
Here Mr Brodie has filled in dates of birth although not part of the requirements – but v helpful!
Totals of occupants & no of rooms in house. Householder’s signature.

18. Where to Find Census Records
Original records stored at National Archives
Still widely available in Record Offices on microfiche or microfilm
Widely available online:
All major subscription sites – Ancestry, FindMyPast, The Genealogist etc
Printed county-wide indexes available – check Country Record Offices or Family History Societies
FreeCEN – online transcripts. Check coverage
The Originals are all stored at TNA – however searching is via a variety of means.
Online is usual starting place as easiest! All major sites have all census years across England & Wales. Some sites have transcriptions only for Scotland – images are only available on Scotland’s People
Also widely available on film or fiche – can search via enumeration districts. But you can also do this online with a little diligence.
As with Parish Registers many local family history societies have produced their own indexes or transcriptions. Worth checking this out if you haven’t been able to trace someone online.
And good old FreeCEN – online searchable transcriptions for 1841 to Need to check coverage for specific areas. Particularly good for Scotland.

19. How to Search for a Census Record
Depends on Site you are using
Focus on particular Census dataset eg 1911 for England & Wales
Search by name
TIP – This does not have to be main householder – choose the least common name amongst the family members you expect to be there
Start wide and narrow search down if too many results
Remember to use wildcards or consider abbreviations of forenames eg Wm or Thos
Search by location
Browse a particular Enumeration District
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

20. Census Search on Ancestry
Search box
Enter details here
Search will look at all listed data collections
About the Collection
Useful background information
Date taken
Individual Data Collections
Can select just the one of interest
1911 Census Search on Ancestry

21. Focus on England Census Collection -1911
More options appear in Search box
Option to Browse collection appears on right hand side
Switch to live search here if possible! And wing it!
A census is taken at an address, not specifically of a family or household. When searching for your relatives, you should remember that even though your ancestor may have lived at one address, if he or she were not at home on the night of the census then they will not be included in the enumerator"s records for that address. If they were visiting friends or relatives that evening, they may, however, be included in the census at that particular address. Many people, particularly young, unmarried women, were in service and may be found at the residence of their employers. You should also think about your ancestors occupations too. If for example you know that your great-great-grandfather was a sailor, he may have actually been at sea that evening - in which case he wouldn"t be recorded on the census. However, if he was on a ship that was docked in an English port, then he should be recorded at the ship"s address - as he was there that evening - rather than at his home address. The same situation may apply to any relatives who worked as medical staff in hospitals, or wardens in prisons, or night-workers in a factory. If they were at the institutions on the night of the census, they would be recorded at that address rather than their home address.
Search on Ancestry

22. Census errors & Issues Names Ages Family relationships Occupations
Place of birth
Double recording / Omissions
NB Some/all of these may occur as indexing/transcription errors
Try searching on another site with different indexing
As with any family history records, original census returns are not free from mistakes; you should therefore keep an open mind when using the data and not believe everything you read.
Some common errors that can be found in census returns are as follows: Errors in recording census data As illiteracy was quite high in the 19th century, many people may have asked their friends, neighbours or even the enumerators to help fill out the forms. In institutions or on vessels it was the person in charge of the prison or ship who completed the details on behalf of everyone in the institution or on the ship. This led to many errors in note taking and in recording the final information. Have also already seen that sometimes initials only were recorded for some institutions Typical mistakes were made when spelling peoples’ names, or noting their occupations, or even when recording their ages. Census name changing Ten years is a long time, and a lot of things happened in our ancestors’ lives between one census and another. During this time they may have got married and re-married perhaps, resulting in a number of name changes. Alternatively, there may have been cases where they wanted to change their identity, perhaps for personal or political reasons. You may, for example, have a bigamist in the family who changed his name to flee from a former partner. You may also have ancestors who anglicised their names over a period of time to suit the political environment.
If you can’t track down James, he may be a Jim. Aunt Peggy might be listed as Margaret and your Grandma, who was always called Polly, was probably Mary. Uncle Chas could be listed as Charles or Chas and Aunt Fanny as Frances. Nicknames and diminutives can derail your family history search – a man can be William to acquaintances, Will to his friends and Billie to his mother – but what is he called in the records?
Census age discrepancies Whilst enumerators and the officials at institutions made mistakes when recording information, individuals who completed the forms themselves also made some errors.  This is certainly true of some people who were quite inventive about their age, or simply had only a vague notion of when they were born. In 1841 guidance to enumerators was to round to nearest 5 years – not always followed. Census occupations Many people also lied about their occupations when completing census returns. For example, in the 19th century thousands of women were prostitutes, yet this is certainly not what they recorded on their forms. Also, whilst most children were noted as ‘scholars’ by their parents, this may have been to disguise the fact that they were breaking the law by sending their underage children out to work.
Place of Birth
Sometimes given as parish, sometimes nearest town so be prepared to be open-minded. Think how you would respond to questions about your birth place – I’ve lived in Birmingham since I was a few weeks old and my parents were born and bred here so you would probably expect me to have been born in Birmingham butI was actually born in Bilston.
Not everyone would have known their true birthplace if the family had moved around a bit. Issues of spellings too can cause issues.
Double Recording
Any persons working away the night of the census but who would be returning in the morning should have been included in with their household group – but confusion around this led to some double recording or omissions (1841)
In other cases households have included people who are away but they may also be recorded elsewhere as visitors or boarders – so double counting.
Others not recorded if sleeping rough. Others seem to have on occasion managed to avoid being counted despite imposition of fines.
However if you can’t find someone your first thought shouldn’t be that they’re not recorded – more likely that you just haven’t found them yet.

23. Census Tips
You may be able to (speculatively) identify relatives living nearby
Married family members, elderly parents may be living nearby in a separate household
Young married couple may still be living with a set of parents
Use age to determine approximate birth date – use for searching Births/Baptisms and Marriages
Birth place – also use for searching Births/Baptisms, marriages and earlier censuses
Don’t look only at your family – look at other entries on same sheet and throughout Enumeration District
Even if no other relatives found you will have better understanding of locality
Tips to Keep in Mind
Married family members may have lived nearby but in a separate household so you may want to search an entire town, neighboring towns, or even a county.
You may be able to identify an earlier generation if elderly parents were living with or close by a married child.
You may be able to identify a younger generation if a young married couple still lived with one of their sets of parents.
Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the census.
You may have to read around marks made by the clerks who compiled the census data. These marks sometimes obscure the information.
Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives other than the immediate family.
Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
It is often helpful to extract the information on all families with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related.