1851 Census

1851 Census of the UK

The 1851 census involved three separate national censuses all held on 30 March; the census of England and Wales, the census of Scotland, and the census of Ireland. It was only the second census of Great Britain (the fourth in Ireland) to collect the personal details of all its inhabitants. As with all pre-1901 census records, very few Ireland records have survived.

1851 Census Questions

The 1851 UK census did not introduce any sweeping reforms on the scale of the census of 1841. The householder was again instructed to provide his/her address and list the personal details of all those who stayed overnight on 30 March.

Unique to Ireland, the householder’s schedule (aka ‘form’) was again split into three tables into which the householder was to provide details on the following groups of people:

• 1st table: anyone who slept overnight on 30 March (in line with the rest of the UK).
• 2nd table: all family members absent on 30 March.
• 3rd table: anyone who died while living with the the Family since the census of 1841.

1851 census questions comparison

Details	Great Britain (Overnight)	Ireland (Overnight)	Ireland (absent)	Ireland (died)
Name	✓	✓	✓	✓
Relation to head of the family	✓	✓	✓	✓
Marital status	✓	✓	X	X
Year(s) of marriage	X	✓	X	X
Age	✓	✓	✓	✓
Male or Female	✓	✓	✓	✓
Rank profession or occupation	✓	✓	✓	✓
Whether attending school	X	✓	✓	X
Education - whether he/she can 'read', 'read and write' or 'cannot read'	X	✓	X	X
Language: 'Irish', 'Irish & English' (if applicable)	X	✓	X	X
Where born	✓	✓	X	X
Blind/deaf/unable to speak	✓	✓	X	X
Where residing	X	X	✓	X
Cause of death	X	X	X	✓
Time of death (Season and Year)	X	X	X	✓

Improvements since the census of 1841

In Great Britain, the census questions were more closely aligned with those featured in the census for Ireland. The ‘relation to head of household’ and ‘marital condition’ questions were both introduced; unfortunately, the British censuses did not go further and ask for year/s of marriage.

The ‘relation to head of household’ was a great improvement because, whilst some relationships could be guessed at, it was not always possible to distinguish a second wife from a daughter or to distinguish family members with different surnames from, say, visitors.

The ‘where born’ question in the Great Britain census asked for more precise information regarding county of birth and, for those born outside the British Isles, the actual country of birth was now required (previously, ‘Foreign Parts’). For those born outside the British Empire, the census schedule asked if the individual was a British Subject.

In the 1851 census for Ireland, a ‘language’ question was inserted into the ‘education’ column. If applicable, each individual was to be described as speaking ‘Irish’ or ‘Irish and English’.

All the UK censuses included a ‘disability’ question for the first time – although it was restricted to whether an individual was blind, deaf, or unable to speak. Ages were no longer rounded down (as they had been in Great Britain) and more accurate addresses were recorded.

1851 Census for England & Wales

Procedure

The procedure remained unaltered from the census of 1841. In the days before ‘census day’ each enumerator (now one of around 40,000) supplied each householder in his ‘enumeration district’ with a householder’s schedule’; a form asking census questions to be completed on ‘census night’.

The day after ‘census day’, each enumerator collected the householder’s schedules and copied the details into his ‘census enumerator’s book’ (‘CEB’). The householder’s schedules were then (almost always) destroyed. The CEB ended up at the General Register Office, having been scrutinised by various Registrars and Superintendent-Registrars. This leaves family historians with only the CEB to consult in most cases.

Religious worship and education

One innovation for the 1851 census was the introduction of a couple of censuses for schools and places of religious worship. However, they were voluntary, not directed at individual householders, and were dropped for the census of 1861. However, the ‘religious census’ can be a useful for locating alternative places of worship if the parish church local to your ancestor(s) is not yielding any results.

1851 Census for Scotland

Following on from the census of 1841, Scotland ran a coincident census which largely mirrored the census conducted in England and Wales. However, because Scotland still did not have its own General Register Office, its enumerators reported to the parish schoolmaster (rather than a registrar), whilst their schoolmaster reported to a sheriff substitute/provost (rather than a superintendent-registrar).

Whilst the census records of England and Wales were filed at the General Register Office of England and Wales, the Scottish census records ended up at the Home Office in London (although later moved to Edinburgh).

1851 Ireland Census

Most 1851 Ireland census records were destroyed by fire but those that survive are hugely valuable for a number of reasons. Please visit 1851 Ireland census for more information.

Census 1851 – Population recorded

Country	Population
England & Wales	17,927,609
Scotland	2,888,742
Ireland	6,574,278
Total UK population	27,390,629
Channel Islands & Isle of Man	143,126

Sources

UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report including tables of the population enumerated in England and Wales (administrative and parliamentary areas) and in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands on 19-20th June 1921 BPP 1921 XVI [Cmd.1485] p.62 (UK) and p. 63 (Isle of Man and Channel Islands).