Search 1841 England, Wales & Scotland Census, Census | Findmypast.co.uk (original) (raw)

What can these records tell me?

Census returns can not only help us determine who our ancestors were, but they can also tell us

Where your ancestors were living
Who they were living with
What their occupations were
If they had any servants
Who their neighbours were
If they had any brothers and sisters
What their ages were at the time of the census

As well as giving us the above information, the fact that census returns are taken every ten years also allows us to track the movements of our ancestors through time as they perhaps move house, get married, have children or even change occupations.

The fields which have been transcribed for the 1841 census on findmypast are:

First name
Middle name
Last name
Sex
Birth place
Age
Place of residence
County

As well as searching for a person, you can also search the 1841 census by address - ideal for tracing your house history or exploring the local history of an area.

By noting how many households there were in a building and whether the household included servants or boarders or visitors, you can gain insight into the social circumstances of the family.

Discover more about the 1841 census

The 1841 census was the first modern census, when the first Registrar General of England and Wales was made responsible for organising the count.

The 1841 census was taken on the night of 6 June 1841 and gave the total population as 18,553,124.

The task of counting was passed to local officers of the newly created registration service. This is the earliest census that has survived in its entirety: few of the 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 censuses have survived the ravages of time.

1841 was the first time that the head of each household was given a form to fill in on behalf of everyone in the dwelling on a set day. This system still forms the basis of the method used today.

Note: In the 1841 Census a policy of rounding down ages was in place. As such, people aged:

15-19 were recorded as 15
20-24 were recorded as 20
25-29 were recorded as 25
30-34 were recorded as 30
35-39 were recorded as 35...and so on