subject: Family Tree Research Questions About The Uk Census [print this page] When people are researching their British Isles family tree connections, often the census data can appear baffling to them. Perhaps they have accessed a commercial website and paid to download the image of their long lost family members and were presented with an official form covered in often hard to decipher handwriting and also what would seem to be a whole bunch of pen strokes that to all the world appears to be scoring out of some of the information.
Lets start at the top!
The Header.
The Header contains the Location. That is broken down into sub sections, for example: the administrative county; the civil parish, etc. Boundaries were constantly changing and although it may appear that your ancestor has moved between the census, it could just have been a change in administrative division that had taken place. Also beware of house number changes or street name changes. I had one in my tree where 2 Densham Terrace, was 80 North Road and is now 199 North West Road, Plymouth!
Schedule Numbers.
A common mistake is to think that the column on the far left of the document gives you the house number - it is in fact the Schedule number! With the exception of the 1911 England 7 Wales census, what we are looking at, when we download a census, is a page from the Enumerator's book. The far left column, then, lists the number of the original schedule filled in by the head of the household. These schedules are not available any more with the exception of the 1911, which is why you can get to see the handwriting of the person that filled it in!
Names.
Beware that ancestors can vary their names across census! My Great Aunt Winnie appears as Eveline Winnifred and Winnifred Eveline on different census. A middle name may make an appearance after the death of a mother and if someone was know by a pet name, like one of my grandmothers, then this may be put down instead of her actual name. One more thing, north of the border it was usual for Scottish widows to revert to their maiden names.
Professions.
We all like to exaggerate a bit and so did our ancestors. A carpenter may become a joiner or a merchant seaman could claim to be a master mariner. Another thing to think about is where your ancestor had two or more jobs. Which went down on the schedule?
Place of Birth.
This could change depending on your ancestor actually knowing it. You should give some consideration to the fact that when some counties changed their names or their boundary lines moved, that your family member's place of birth has been changed.
If Deaf and Dumb; Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile or Feeble Minded.
Don't fear the worst as this covers a variety of medical conditions with little option for degree of ailment. The options offered are a bit stark to the modern politically correct twenty-first century dweller.
Double strokes.
If you now scan the document from the top to the bottom you will not fail to notice the insertion of two parallel strokes beside the details of some entries. What does this mean? This mark shows us the start of the next household unit. So between the first // and the second all those names are considered to be part of the same household.
So, the downloadable census collections are a great tool for the family historian, providing us with fantastic insight into our departed family, but the information has the ability to confuse as well as to inform.
