Genealogy Chat

When the 1851 census came out, you could get some 1841 census' and i was just wondering because the 1841 census has come out can you get any 1831 census'? thanks av

I always thought the census returns didn,t start until 1837, then only head count?? Rod

The early census only name the head of the house and give the number of people living there. I think some of them were destroyed. Heather

thanks anyway av

Bits of the 1811 & 1821 do exist I know, but these were just head counts, if you go to census online - Yorkshire Co., you can see some............................Barbara..............

The government started collecting population statistics through a ten yearly census in 1801. The first four, 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 were little more than head counts and the original returns were supposed to be destroyed. However the people who collected the information, often the parish priest or schoolmaster, were sometimes interested enough to record more information than was actually required and some of their lists were preserved, in the parish chest or amongst their own papers. If you are very lucky you may find a parish you are interested in has some of this early census material deposited at the county records office but it will only cover a small area and there is no national collection of information earlier than the 1841. Chapman, CR, 'Pre-1841 Censuses and Population Listings', published by Lochin Publishing 1998 is a book listing a lot of the surviving returns.

thanks for the information