England Census: What It Is and How It Was Gathered

A census is a survey of all people and households in the country. It was taken every 10 years, starting in 1801. The 1801-1831 censuses were statistical. The 1841 census was the first national that contained information of value to family history because it, and successive censuses, listed names and details of everyone in a household. Read about the census by going to wiki.familysearch.org and searching for England Census. You can also find the same page by typing https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/England_Census in your Internet browser.

Learn more about English censuses by taking the FamilySearch online lesson about Census Records, and reading A copy of the Act for Taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain [w10 August 1840.

The title of the man who collected details was called an enumerator. He was assigned to visit a specific area or number of streets with the purpose of leaving a form that was to be filled out on the night of the census. Information about everyone in the house on that night – family, relatives, boarders and visitors – were to be listed. The enumerator went back in the next few days and gathered the forms. An article written by Guy Etchells explains in detail the instructions given to enumerators.

Censuses were taken on specific dates. The Genealogy of the United Kingdom and Ireland (GenUKI) Web site is one place to find the month and dayfor each census year. The National Archives (TNA) produced a Census Returns leaflet that includes the dates.