UK Census Records

UK census records

The ‘UK census’ is made up of three separate, but concurrent, national censuses; the Census of England and Wales; the Census of Scotland; and the Census of Ireland (after partition, Northern Ireland). As a result, UK Census records are stored at three separate national archives.

Summary of UK Census Returns

Census date	England & Wales† Personal details	England & Wales† Available?	Scotland Personal details	Scotland Available?	Ireland* Personal details	Ireland* Available?	Prime Minister	Monarch
1801 10 Mar	X	✓	X	✓	n/a	No census	William Pitt the Younger	George III
181127 May	X	✓	X	✓	n/a	No census	Spencer Perceval	George III
182128 May	X	✓	X	✓	✓	fragments only	Robert Banks Jenkinson 2nd Earl of Liverpool	George IV
183130 May	X	✓	X	✓	✓ (House- holder only)	fragments only	Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey	William IV
1841 6 June	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	fragments only	William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne	Victoria
1851 30 Mar	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	fragments only	Lord John Russell 1st Earl Russell	Victoria
1861 7 April	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Destroyed	Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston	Victoria
1871 2 April	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Destroyed	William Ewart Gladstone	Victoria
1881 3 April	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Destroyed	William Ewart Gladstone	Victoria
1891 5 April	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Destroyed	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Victoria
1901 31 Mar	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Edward VII
1911 2 April	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Herbert Henry Asquith	George V
1921 19 June	✓	✓	✓	✓	n/a	No census	David Lloyd George	George V
1926 18 April	n/a	No census	n/a	No census	✓	Lost/ destroyed	Stanley Baldwin	George V
1931 26 April	✓	Destroyed	✓	Release date: tbc	n/a	No census	James Ramsay MacDonald	George V
1937 28 Feb	n/a	No census	n/a	No census	✓	Release date: tbc	Stanley Baldwin	George VI
1941 No census	n/a	No census	n/a	No census	n/a	No census	Sir Winston Churchill	George VI
* From 1821: including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. † From 1921: Northern Ireland only.

Pre-1841 Census Records

The first decennial census of Great Britain (England & Wales and, separately, Scotland) was taken in 1801; the population of the ‘Islands in the British Seas’ (i.e. the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) was added to the census for England and Wales in 1821. Officially, these pre-1841 census records were little more than a head count and did not record personal information. Unofficially, some personal details were recorded – please visit our pre-1841 census page for more information.

The first decennial census of Ireland was in 1821. Just like Scotland it was held separately to, but concurrently with, the census for England and Wales. However, Ireland was unique amongst the home nations in recording the personal details of its inhabitants. Indeed, the Ireland census asked more questions in 1821 than the rest of the UK in 1841. For example, the 1821 Ireland census asked for the relationship of each person to the head of the household; a question that was not introduced in the rest of the UK until the 1851 census. The 1831 Ireland census was less ambitious and collected only the personal details of the head of household.

Unfortunately, almost all 1821 and 1831 Ireland census records were destroyed by a fire in 1922.

UK Census records 1841 – 1921

What were the census questions?

Initially, the census questions were very basic. In Great Britain, the 1841 census questions were limited to name, age (rounded down for adults), gender, occupation, and place of birth. Ireland once again, asked a broader set of questions (e.g marital status, relationship to householder and levels of education).

For the census of 1851, Great Britain adopted many (but not all) of Ireland’s census questions, and as the decades passed, census questions gradually increased in depth and complexity. Scotland asked virtually the same census questions as England and Wales but in Ireland, no census records survive between 1851 and the Ireland census of 1901, by which time Ireland had largely converged with the rest of the UK.

Whose details were recorded and how?

In Great Britain, each UK householder was required to complete a householder’s schedule in which they were to answer a set of questions regarding any person who stayed overnight on census night. From the census of 1861 onwards, this was extended to include people who returned the next morning.

The Ireland censuses of 1841 and 1851 followed a different format which involved householders supplying the personal details of not only those who stayed overnight on census night, but also those who were absent or who had died since the previous census. By 1901, Ireland had adopted largely the same wording as the rest of the UK.

What records are available?

In Great Britain, the householder’s schedules were usually destroyed once their contents had been copied into census enumerator’s books (‘CEBs’) and these are the census records that are digitised today. It wasn’t until the 1911 census of England and Wales (and the 1921 census of Scotland) that householder’s schedules were kept and the CEBs ditched.

In Ireland, apart from the censuses of 1861 and 1871, the policy was to retain the householder’s forms and this means that any surviving Ireland census records are often original householder’s forms in the householder’s own handwriting.

Unfortunately, very few pre-1901 census records for Ireland have survived. The Irish census records of 1841 and 1851 were largely destroyed by fire in 1922 (along with those of 1821 and 1831); the census records for 1861 and 1871 were totally destroyed shortly after their population statistics had been extracted; and the census records for 1881 and 1891 were pulped during World War I.

In all parts of the UK, special schedules were used for ships and institutions such as workhouses, barracks and prisons. However, the personal details of members of the British Army posted overseas were not recorded until the census of 1911.

How was census information collected?

The UK was split into ‘enumeration districts’ (ED) with a salaried enumerator assigned to each area. The enumerator’s task was to distribute, collect and process the householder’s schedules. In Ireland, the enumerators were mainly recruited from the police.

In Great Britain, the ED was designed to be small enough to be covered by an ‘active man’ ‘in one day’; one of the main failings of pre-1841 censuses was the length of time it had taken to collect census information leading to people being missed or double counted^[1].

In Ireland, the enumeration districts were built around townlands and mapped out using ordnance survey maps; these areas were larger than the rest of the UK and took several days to cover.

General Register Office

From the census of 1841 onwards, the General Register Office for England and Wales took control of the census (for England and Wales). Census returns, collected by the enumerators, passed through the hands of various registrars before finally ending up at the General Register Office.

A similar procedure was carried out in Scotland but, because the General Register Office for Scotland was established decades later, it did not take control of the Scottish census until 1861; the Scottish censuses of 1841 and 1851 continued to be overseen by the same officials engaged for the pre-1841 census of Scotland. The Scotland census records for 1841 and 1851 were stored at the Home Office in London and did not move to Edinburgh until the 20th Century.

The census of Ireland was overseen by a small team of census commissioners. The Registrar-General for Marriages (est. 1845) took control of the Ireland census in 1851, acting as Chief Census Commissioner.

The 100 years’ rule

Census records less than 100 years’ old are not currently available to the public. This restriction is to protect the privacy of individuals listed in a census who are still alive i.e. there is an assumed maximum lifespan of 100 years.

The scheduled release date for the 1921 Census for England and Wales is January 2022. The 1921 census records for England and Wales are held by the Office of National Statistics. However, the digital rights have been acquired by Findmypast.co.uk.

The release date for the 1921 census for Scotland is 2021 and these census records are held by the National Records of Scotland.

There is a lack of other census records between the wars; the 1921 Census of Ireland was ditched because of the Irish War of Independence, whilst the 1926 Census Records for Northern Ireland and the 1931 Census Records for England and Wales were all destroyed. Finally, the planned 1941 Census was abandoned due to World War II.

1939 National Register | the ‘Wartime Census’

The 1939 Register has gone some way to compensate for the paucity of UK census records in the first half of the 20th century. Conducted at the beginning of WWII, the National Register collected personal data from the UK population so that National ID cards and ration books could be distributed. It has, therefore, many of the characteristics as a national census.

The National Register, which evolved to the NHS Central Register (NHSCR) after the War, was constantly updated until 1991 and it is this feature that distinguishes it from the standard decennial census with its fixed ‘census date’. For this reason, the 100 years’ rule is not applicable, provided it can be established that the National Register records belong to someone no longer alive. Visit Findmypast.co.uk to find out how you can access the National Register.

It is a strange feature of UK family history research that any journey through UK census records generally ends with the 1939 National Register, not a decennial census.

Sources

^[1]Abstract of the answers and returns made pursuant to acts 3 & 4 Vic. c.99 and 4 Vic. c.7 intituled respectively “An act for taking an account of the population of Great Britain,” and “An act to amend the acts of the last session for taking an account of the population.” Enumeration Abstract. M.DCCC.XLI: p. 1 – 9.