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
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1851
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1861
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1871
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1881
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1891
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1901
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - National Archives of Ireland, Findmypast Transcripts only
Scotland - Ancestry - without images, Scotlands People
Census 1911
England - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Wales - Ancestry & Findmypast with images; Familysearch without images
Ireland - National Archives of Ireland, Findmypast Transcripts only
Scotland - unavailable
United Kingdom Census 1939
England - Ancestry with images
Wales - Ancestry with images
Ireland - unavailable
Scotland - unavailable