Family tree research questions about the UK census

The UK censuses can baffle people beginning family history, when they first encounter them. You go on to a commercial site and pay to download the image of your long lost ancestors and you are presented with an official form covered in sometimes difficult to read handwriting and what looks like lots of lines crossing out some of the data.

Lets start at the top!

The Header.

The Header includes the location. That is broken down into sub sections, for example: the administrative county; the civil parish, etc. Administrative areas often changed and so, even though it may seem that at first glance your forebears had moved district in between the census, it is possible that it was only the administrative division that had changed. Also beware of house number changes or street name changes. I had one in my tree where 2 Densham Terrace, was 80 North Road and is now 199 North West Road, Plymouth!

Schedule Numbers.

A common mistake is to think that the column on the far left of the document gives you the house number - it is in fact the Schedule number! With the exception of the 1911 England 7 Wales census, what we are looking at, when we download a census, is a page from the Enumerator's book. The far left column, then, lists the number of the original schedule filled in by the head of the household. These schedules are not available any more with the exception of the 1911, which is why you can get to see the handwriting of the person that filled it in!

Names.

Beware that ancestors can vary their names across census! My Great Aunt Winnie appears as Eveline Winnifred and Winnifred Eveline on different census. A middle name could sometimes appear once a mother has died and then we have the cases where a person was know by a nickname or pet name, like one of my grandmothers, in cases like this it can often be written down instead of her actual name. One more thing, north of the border it was usual for Scottish widows to revert to their maiden names.

Professions.

We all like to exaggerate a bit and so did our ancestors. A carpenter may become a joiner or a merchant seaman could claim to be a master mariner. Another thing to think about is where your ancestor had two or more jobs. Which would have been noted in the schedule?

Place of Birth.

This could change depending on your ancestor actually knowing it. You should give some consideration to the fact that when some counties changed their names or their boundary lines moved, that your family member's place of birth has been changed.

If Deaf and Dumb; Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile or Feeble Minded.

Don't fear the worst as this covers a variety of medical conditions with little option for degree of ailment. The options offered are a bit stark to the modern politically correct twenty-first century dweller.

Double strokes.

As you scroll down the page you will notice someone has inserted two parallel lines next to the names of some people. What does this mean? This indicates where the next household starts. So every name that is listed in between the two sets of parallel lines are part of the same household.

So, the downloadable census collections are a great tool for the family historian, providing us with fantastic insight into our departed family, but the information has the ability to confuse as well as to inform.


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Nick Thorne - The Nosey Genealogist, has been researching into his own family tree for six years now with great success. Nick's family history tips and tricks, as used by him to to break down brick walls in family tree research, can be found at his website where a free weekly email, audio CDs, pod-casts and more are availble: http://www.NoseyGenealogist.com/blog Nick offers a free weekly email, audio CDs and more.