UK Census Online

Census Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is a census?

A. A census is a complete population count for a given area or place taken on a specific date. The 1841 census is considered to be the first modern UK census.

Q. What information can I find in the census?

A. Details vary for each census return, with the 1911 census being the most detailed. You can see what's included on UK Census Online in the table below:

	1841 Census	1851 Census	1861 Census	1871 Census	1881 Census	1891 Census	1901 Census	1911 Census
Name
Age
Sex
Occupation
Address
Place of Birth
Relation to head
Marital status
Employment status
Nationality
Duration of current marriage
No. of children that were born
No. of children that are living
No. of children that died

UK Census - Today's Facts

Women allowed to enter the Medical Profession from 1876

In the 19th Century, a career as a physician was a highly respected following for a man. Yet it was considered outrageous for any woman to pursue a career in such a traditionally male-dominated profession.

Despite this, some women were determined to succeed. Born in 1836, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson wanted to become a doctor from an early age, but still met with great resistance when applying to medical institutions, all of which denied her entry.

She was finally permitted to attend Middlesex Hospital as a nursing student, but was deeply unpopular, particularly after an incident in which she was shown to be the only student able to answer the lecturer's questions. As a result she was barred from attending by other students.

In 1865 she took and passed the Society of Apothecaries' exam, as the regulations didn't state that women couldn't sit it. Immediately afterwards, the society changed its rules to forbid women from taking the exam - a discouraging example of the mindset she was up against.

Still determined to become a doctor, she travelled to France where she finally gained her degree from the University of Paris. She married in 1871 and combined having children with her ongoing career - founding the New Hospital for Women in London, and subsequently the London School of Medicine for Women.

In 1876 a government Act declared that all women should be allowed to enter the medical professions - an Act almost certainly influenced by her achievements.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson can be found in the 1851 Census for Suffolk.

Anatomy of the Census Page

The front of each census enumeration book contains a standard section explaining how to complete the records. More useful is the page describing the streets and places recorded in that book, as they often provide clues to the route the enumerator took, often helping you locate a property. Large streets may fill several books which may not be contiguous, and the routes often detour up side streets and alleys. The books also contain a chart which the enumerator filled in with the figures he totalled at the bottom of each enumeration page. These statistics are the ones which could be easily collated for early release to government.

Every page holds the details of up to 25 individuals divided over a number of full or partial households. Entries do not always include full addresses, so knowing a specific address for your ancestors doesn't always help. The page header contains information about the general location and includes area information on the district, ward or township, the enumerator filled out whatever information was appropriate. An odd page may be missing or torn, but generally TheGenealogist has complete records for all places.

How the Page is Numbered:

Always record the full reference to an entry, even if you make copies for your files, so that it can be found again by anyone consulting your research. The full reference consists of four sections, a Class number, Piece number, Folio number and page number. For example: RG13 / 51 / 122 / 21.

RG13: Class number - The National Archives class reference number, here indicating the year 1901. It appears with the Piece number on a label on every image.

51: Piece number - The enumeration books are bound into volumes containing up to 200 sheets for archiving. The bound volume is referred to as a Census Piece and given a unique number. Each book page holds details of up to 25 individuals and a single enumeration book contains 20- 40 sheets.

122: Folio number - As each book making up a Piece has identical pre-printed page numbers and there can be many books bound in a complete Piece, page numbers reoccur. To uniquely identify every sheet making up a Piece, it is stamped with another number in the top right hand corner, next to the page number.

21: Page number - As the Piece and folio numbers are unique, it is not really necessary to record the page number. The combination of the Piece and Folio numbers provide reference to a single sheet containing no more than 50 people, so the page number only narrows it down to one side of that sheet, or 25 people.

Case Study - Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett

Elizabeth Barrett was born in 1806, and at the age of 15 she injured her spine in a fall. When her brother died in 1838, she seemingly became a permanent invalid, and spent that majority of her time in her room writing poetry.

In 1844, Robert Browning wrote to Elizabeth, admiring her poems, and over the 20 months courtship and before getting engaged in 1845, they exchanged around 600 letters. However, Elizabeth's father disapproved of the courtship and the couple wed secretly before running off to Italy.

In Italy, Elizabeth's health improved and the couple had a son, Pen, in 1849. Elizabeth died in 1861 at the age of 55, and Robert and their son returned to England. It was then that Robert became recognised as a poet like his wife, and he has been honoured as a literary figure ever since his death in 1889.

"I began by doing a BMD Image Search in Marriage Records, using the BMDindex.co.uk website. I knew they were married on September 12th 1846, so I set the year range to 1846. I then typed in 'Robert' in forename and 'Browning' surname, and clicked search.

As I knew which month they were married in, I scrolled to the the 'Jul-Sep' records, and clicked to view the image.

I found Browning, Robert easily, and a closer look reveals that they were married in Marleybone. The volume number and volume page number were also included, which can be used for ordering a certificate."

The Difference between a Name Index and a Transcript

The difference between a name index and a transcript is that in a transcript, all the useful fields have been transferred to the database and are available to search, not just the names and ages like in an index.

Transcripts are more useful as finding aids than the simpler name indexes, as they give you more parameters to combine in your search. Transcripts also offer a useful advantage to users without Broadband who find that services based heavily on image downloads too slow to use. They minimise the number of pages you have to download and view to find the correct entry, but you should still check the original page image to confirm the accuracy of the transcript for yourself.