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Genealogy at home: UK Census Records

Published on 24 March 2020

One record set that many people find useful in tracing their British Ancestry are the UK Census records. Census records were taken every 10 years from 1841, so there are census record searches for the years 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911.

The census records are available on Ancestry and Findmypast which have transcripts plus the original images of census sheets. Familysearch has transcripts for the census sheets but not the original images. See table below for details.

Although information in the records can be variable, most census records give details of

Name of street, avenue, road, etc.
House name or number
Whether property vacant or inhabited
Surname of head of household
Name of persons who had spent the night in the household
Relationship of enumerated person to head of house
Person’s marital status
Age at last birthday (gender indicated by column in which age is recorded)
Person’s occupation
Person’s place of birth
Whether blind, deaf, or idiot

This detail can supplement the BDM information or help identify which “John Smith” is your “John Smith”, as well as giving interesting insight into your family’s life. One of the gems you find on census records are the details of other peole who are in the house on the census night. In my personal research I have unlocked an unknown branch of my family by finding a previously unidentified sister spending the night at my great great great grandmother’s house!

Census 1841

England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images