Local population lists were made from the earliest times, usually for taxation or parish purposes. A few of these records survive in local record offices.
The first general census of England and Wales was held in 1801, and except for the war year 1941, it has been conducted every ten years since.
The Government has ruled that in the interests of confidentiality census returns shall not be published within 100 years of the date of the census.
The returns thus available to researchers are those conducted on :-
10 March 1801
27 May 1811
28 May 1821
30 May 1831
[The census of 1801 to 1831 exists mainly as statistical extracts from the original returns; however some enumerators included head of family names and occasionally full details of families: These occasional records aside, the 1801-1831 census are of little genealogical value.]06 June 1841 - EATLYs in the 1841 Census:
07 April 1861 - EATLYs in the 1861 Census:02 April 1871 - EATLYs in the 1871 Census:
03 April 1881 - EATLYs in the 1881 Census:
05 April 1891 - EATLYs in the 1891 Census:
31 March 1901- EATLYs in the 1901 Census:
02 April 1911 - EATLYs in the 1911 Census:
19th June 1921 - The 1921 Census will not be available to the public until 2022
26/27th April 1931 - The 1931 Census was entirely destroyed by a fire at the Office of Works warehouse in Hayes, Middlesex on Saturday 19 December 1942.
29 September 1939 - EATLYs in the 1939 Register
The 1939 Register - taken on 29 September 1939, the1939 Register provides a snapshot of the civilian population of England and Wales just after the outbreak of the Second World War. The records were used to produce up-to-date population statistics and identification cards and, once rationing was introduced in January 1940, to facilitate the issuing of ration cards. The identification cards rules were repealed in 1952.
The census scheduled for 1941 was abandoned due to war.
The census of 1841-1911 contain in various degrees a great deal of useful information, including; addresses, full names of all residents, their relationship in the household, place of birth, and occupation.
We all have our secrets and there is no reason to believe that our ancestors were not above telling the occasional white lie to the census enumerators, particularly as regards to age, and marital state.
Census records are a guide not a gospel.
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