Tips and Tricks - The UK Census

Tips

🌳   Read the help

🌳   Search creatively for

-  spelling variations

-  transcription errors or omissions

-  address info via keyword

🌳   Search all sites carrying the record set

Help

It's important to know what information you might find for any one particular census year. So you are not searching on a field that wasn't collected at that time AND so you can be more creative with your keywords. eg: first name Richard keyword Baddow or Lower Green or Galleywood. The various location descriptions for Richard Saveall - who was found indexed at Ancestry as Sareall and at Findmypast as Sarcott.

The information about what was collected for any given UK Census record set is available at both Ancestry and Findmypast. 

Ancestry

SCROLL DOWN past the search query information when looking at any one particular census year eg: 1851 UK 

Keep scrolling down to see the "known problems"

Findmypast

• Guide https://www.findmypast.com/blog/family-records/search-guide-uk-census-records
• Missing Records http://www.findmypast.com/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces
• Switch on the address search query screen https://www.findmypast.com/blog/help/1911-census-address-search-reintroduced-to-findmypast

Checklist

Have you found all the Cenus records available? A check list can help with that. The Patient Genie's checklist includes UK, USA, and Canada Census dates as well as various Colonial Australian Census and Muster Rolls, and digitised Electoral Rolls for Australia and New Zealand. 

 http://bit.ly/DownUnderCheck

Further Reading

The National Archives of UK Research Guides

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/?search=census

The Census 1801-1911 : A Guide for the Internet Era by Stuart A Raymond (out of print)