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 If you have just started researching your family tree,
Simon Fowler has some sound advice in this and other articles in
our ancestors series.
Simon is editor of
Ancestors Magazine
published in association with The National Archives. He is an
experienced writer and lecturer regularly giving lectures at the
Society of Genealogists. His latest book
Military History on the Internet has just been published by
Pen & Sword
Ancestors is the Family History
Magazine from the National Archives click
for the special offer they are making to laterlife visitors
CENSUS RETURNS
Census returns are some of the most important records you will
need to use in your genealogical research. And thanks to the
miracle of the internet they are all available online in an easy
to use format.
 
Click on the images to see the expanded census details
These records are important because they record almost everybody
who was living in Britain on a particular night. They give the
names, age, relationship, marital status, occupation and
birthplace of every person living in each house, although the
1841 census is not as detailed as the later ones.
Often you can obtain information from them that you can get from
no other source.
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The first census was taken in 1801 but was little more than a
headcount, and it wasn’t until 1841 that the names and other
details of individuals were collected. There has been a census
every ten years since then and the returns for all years up to
1901 are available.
The online services are very much designed for the beginner. You
type in the name you are researching into an index and it will
tell you where it appears. You can then decide whether to look
at images of the census itself or a transcript of the entry,
which is usually cheaper.
Searching the index is free although there is a small charge to
download and view the original images or transcripts.
A complete set of the censuses is available at
www.ancestry.co.uk .
Many local libraries have a subscription to the site where you
can use their service for free.
Findmypast (
www.findmypast.com ) has the 1841, 1861-1891 censuses, and
the 1901 census is at
www.1901censusonline.com . This has a very good index.
Transcripts of the 1881 census is available for free at
www.findmypast.com
and www.familysearch.org
. Transcripts of other censuses are available (for a fee) at
www.thegenealogist.co.uk . Many family history societies
have compiled detailed and very accurate indexes for their
areas, particularly for the 1851 census. These are often
available online at
www.familyhistoryonline.co.uk
Scottish census records (again 1841-1901) are at
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk . Irish census records are being
scanned and indexed at present and the first batch is due to be
released shortly. For more details visit
www.nationalarchives.ie
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Online census returns can also be seen free of charge at The
National Archives (TNA) at Kew (
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ) and (until March 2008 when it
closes) the Family Records Centre (FRC).
1911 census
The first part of the 1911 census
will be available towards the end of 2008. It is
being released slightly early under Freedom of
Information legislation, although entries containing
potentially sensitive information remain hidden
until January 2012.
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Problems and pitfalls
Although the online censuses are pretty accurate,
inevitably transcribers do misread entries. If you
can’t find your ancestor, trying using a wild card
symbol to replace a letter or letters – for example
Wood* will list all the Woods, Woodwards and so on,
or Wo?d will reveal Wood, Word, Wold and so forth.
Or try all the variants on the name you can think
off – for Wood, you might try Ward, Vood, or even
Hood.
If you do find your ancestor and the index is wrong,
don’t forget to tell the data provider so that they
can amend the entry, so that other people won’t have
your problems.
If the worst comes to the worst – and you know
roughly where your ancestors lived – you may need to
go through microfilm copies of the census to find
them. The FRC (or TNA from March 2008) has a set
covering all of England and Wales, and your local
studies library may have a set for the local area.
There are two other points to note:
Often the ages are slightly wrong – usually because
the individual did not know how old they way.
Occupations may also be misleading, because poor
people in particular may have had two or more jobs
to make ends meet. And curiously although there were
tens of thousands of prostitutes in Victorian
England, almost none are so described in the census.
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OFFER FOR LATERLIFE VISITORS
Are you interested in tracing
your family history?
Ancestors, the family history magazine from The National
Archives, is the essential read for all family, local and
military historians. Packed full of informative features from
family history experts, it gives practical advice for beginners
and more experienced researchers, reveals the best family
history websites and online resources and news on what is
happening at The National Archives.
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subscribe by post or phone the contact details are on the same
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Articles in the series:
Get going with your
family history
Census Returns
Birth, marriage
and death records
Birth, marriage
and death certificates
Going back
before 1837
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