Genealogy Chat

See below, properly set out in paragraphs!

How to search census indexes without subscribing to Ancestry This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, or the only right way to search, but it is a way to find the easier ancestors. 1. Use this link: Http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/census/ 2. Click on the census you wish to search (1901 is the GR site) 3. Choose the blue screen, to search by exact name. 4. Search initially by name, if you think it is likely to be spelt correctly. 5. If the surname is common, limit by age (bearing in mind that Ancestry dates of birth for 1851 - 1891 will usually be a year out because all censuses were taken March/April. In 1841, born 1826 means aged 15 -19 so born 1821 - 1826, born 1821 means aged 20 - 24 so born 1816 - 1821 etc) 6. If convinced you know which county they lived in, enter the county from the drop down menu. 7. If absolutely sure of the town or village, enter that in the next box. 8. Use birthplace boxes with extreme discretion. People's memories may be faulty, their spelling can be dubious and transcribers occasionally miskey the county, so Kent may appear as Kenya, Somerset as Somalia etc 9. If you can't find someone because their name is mistranscribed, start by looking by the first three letters of christian and surname with an asterisk after them. Eg Rob* Dom* for Robert Dominy. 10. If searching a small area, you could look for all heads of household, or people aged 20+/- 5 years or women etc If you find someone in the indexes, then you can ask for someone to test your theory, by looking at the image, or checking the reference number and telling you who else is at the address (you can do the last two for yourself in 1881 and there are still ways to identify a household in 1901) To start you off, see if you can find Edmund Skillings, grandfather and grandson, living in Edgefield 1841 - 1861. They are there, on all three censuses.

Well, I found the first census using the above method! (will leave the others for someone who isn't an Ancestry subscriber!) 1841: Edmand Shillings abt 1796 Norfolk, England Edgefield Norfolk Edmand Shillings abt 1840 Norfolk, England Edgefield Norfolk Obviously, I could view the other people in the household if I chose to......Can a non-subscriber do that? Merry

Lol Merry! I'd be very worried if you couldn't find a straightforward example like that. The only index you can view an entire household for is 1881, and you can find people of the same name in a household for 1901. However, you can get round these problems, at least for villages. This is Edgefield in 1871: Edmund Skillings abt 1789 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Head Edgefield Norfolk Edmund Skillings abt 1842 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Head Edgefield Norfolk James Skillings abt 1847 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Head Edgefield Norfolk William Skillings abt 1816 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Head Edgefield Norfolk Elizabeth Skillings abt 1788 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Wife Edgefield Norfolk Elizabeth Skillings abt 1844 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Wife Edgefield Norfolk Martha Skillings abt 1842 Edgefield, Norfolk, England Wife Edgefield Norfolk Elizabeth Skillings abt 1842 Saxthorpe, Norfolk, England Wife Edgefield Norfolk Elizabeth Skillings abt 1816 Sheringham, Norfolk, England Wife Edgefield Norfolk (and there are five wives because Robert isn't at home!) You can use the 1881 census to partner everyone off, though Edmund and Elizabeth senior are dead by then.