The records are now available in table form on this site, from the ‘Census Table Index’ which can be accessed from here.
Census records from 1841 to 1921 and the 1939 register have been used to compile transcripts for this research. There is also some data available from maritime records for those who may have been away from home during the day of the census, as well as military service records.
In the past the transcripts have been recorded in the GRAMPS program, as well as via on-line via links in the family pages of this site.
TIP. You can search for names, dates and places in the search box of the home page or the search box of the Census Table Index to narrow down the results. This project is ongoing, new records may be added in the future.
The years of the Census.
1801 10 March (Details collected were mainly head-counts, with few records still existing.)
1811 27 May
1821 28 May
1831 30 May
1841 6 June
Name. Age (for those over 15, this was supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 years, though this instruction was not obeyed in all cases). Occupation. Whether born in same county recorded as “Yes” or “No” of resident county and if no whether born in Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts would be marked with a ‘√’ (tick). Religion (Ireland).
1851 30 March
Relation to head of the household. Marital status. Place of birth. Whether blind, deaf or dumb. Language spoken (Ireland). Rounding down of ages dropped.
1861 7 April
Economic status.
1871 2 April
Whether an imbecile, idiot or lunatic.
1881 3 April
Language spoken (in Scotland).
1891 5 April
Language spoken (in Wales). Whether an employer, an employee, or neither. Number of rooms occupied, if fewer than 5.
1901 31 March
Number of rooms in dwelling. Whether an employer, worker or working on one’s own account. Whether working at home or not. Language spoken (in Wales – children under 3 years of age excluded).
1911 2 April
First UK Census where the Census Return for a particular household or institution written directly by the “Head of Household” and was used as the primary census return. Industry or service with which the worker is connected. How long the couple has been married. How many children were born alive, how many who are still alive, and how many who have died. “Nationality of any Person born in a Foreign Country”. The final column, which had been “Deaf and Dumb, Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile, Feeble-minded”, becomes “INFIRMITY: Totally Deaf and Dumb, Totally Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile, Feeble-minded”.
1921 19 June https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20s-people/the-1921-census/
1931 26 April England and Wales – destroyed in 1942 fire; Northern Ireland – no census. Place of usual residence.
1939 29 September National Registration Act 1939. Includes every civilian member of household, their full birth date, full name and occupation.
1941 No census due to the Second World War.
1951 8 April Household amenities.
1961 23 April The first time a computer was used. An IBM 705 at the Royal Army Pay Corps, Worthy Down, Winchester, England Qualifications, migration, household tenure.
1966 24 April Long-form/short-form census, trialing an alternative method of enumeration. Car ownership, method of travel to work.
1971 25 April
1981 5 April
1991 21 April Ethnic group, long-term limiting illness, central heating, term-time address of students.
2001 29 April Size of workforce, supervisor status, first question on religion on the main census form (England, Wales, and Scotland).
2011 27 March An option to complete the form online.[30] Also provided English, Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh and British national identity option following criticism that English and Welsh were absent from 2001. Includes questions relevant to civil partnerships. Other new questions involve asking migrants their date of arrival and how long they intend to stay in the UK; respondents also required to disclose which passports they held. A rehearsal census was conducted on 11 October 2009.