England and Wales Census, 1851 - FamilySearch Historical Records

England

Wales

What is in This Collection?
This collection will include records for 1851.

The schedules are arranged by county and then divided by civil parish, each district being an area that could be enumerated in a day. For reference purposes, the National Archives assigned a piece number to each enumeration district and stamped a folio number in the upper right corner of each right-side page. The number refers to entries on both sides of the page.

The original schedules are well preserved and housed at the Public Records Office in Kew. Microfilm copies are located at the Family History Library, at the Family Records Centre in England, and at county record offices and some libraries.

The Registrar General created censuses for various reasons, including population studies, accessing military readiness, compiling lists of eligible voters, and tracking relief to the poor.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Census records usually contain the following information:


 * Date, place, district, parish and county where census was taken
 * Given names and surnames for members in each household
 * Age, gender and birthplace for each household member
 * Marital status and occupation for each household member
 * Occupation
 * Relationship to the head of the household

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Look at an image of the original record. The original may contain information that was not recorded in the index. To find a copy of the original record, visit the [The National Archives] page. (Send them to the custodian website if they can access records using that website. Unfortunately not all custodian websites allow access).

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This can help you find possible relatives.
 * Check for other names. An individual might appear under an unexpected name for a variety of reasons:
 * - They might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * -A woman may have returned to her maiden name after the death of her husband.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records and images within it: Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation:

Top of Page

How Can I Contribute to the FamilySearch Wiki?
Return to England Census Page