Census Records In The United Kingdom

A state census is an official count or survey of a population of people which lists where every person is residing on a specific date. Census returns are ordered by the state so that the results can be used to inform decisions on issues such as public services. The questions asked in a census have therefore changed each time according to what the government needs to know. A census was taken every ten years in England, Wales and Scotland from 1801 onwards with the exception of 1941 due to World War II. The returns of 1931 for England and Wales were destroyed by fire, meaning the next census released will be the 1951 census. Scotland is the exception whose 1931 census records were retained elsewhere and are due for release in 2031. For the majority of parishes in the United Kingdom only the census returns of 1841 onwards survive.

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Pre-1841 census returns

The census returns of 1801–1831 were normally headcounts per household or sometimes headcounts of each parish. In some cases, more details are given such as the head’s name and occupation. In some very rare examples, the names and ages of everyone in the household is given along with the head's occupation. A majority of pre-1841 early census returns have not survived. Where they have been retained, they are normally held in the relevant county archive.

As well as the government-ordered census returns dating from 1801 onwards, there are other earlier examples where local officials have taken a population census of their own account. In some cases church officials and parish overseers made their own mini-census to gain a better idea of their parishes' needs. These can date back hundreds of years but are a rare find. Where they survive, they will be found in the relevant county archive.

UK Census records 1841-1921

Census returns were gathered every decade between 1841-1921 in England and Wales and separately in Scotland. The dates they were taken are below:

6 June 1841

30 March 1851
7 April 1861
2 April 1871
3 April 1881
5 April 1891
31 March 1901
2 April 1911
19 June 1921 (postponed from 24 April 1921)

For the majority of your ancestors, you will find that working backwards through the census will be the most logical way of tracing them. If your ancestor died in 1868, first find them in the 1861 census before tracing them back to the 1851 and 1841 returns. This can help minimise the chance of tracing their namesake.

The questions residents were asked varied between each census. The information you can discover for England and Wales is as follows:

1841 - City or parish of residence, names of people in the household, age rounded down to the nearest five years, sex, occupation, whether born in the county and whether born in Scotland, Ireland or ‘Foreign Parts’
1851 - City or parish, address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, place of birth and whether a person is ‘blind’ or ‘deaf-and-dumb’
1861 - City or parish, address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, place of birth and whether a person is ‘blind’ or ‘deaf-and-dumb’
1871 - City or parish, address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, place of birth and whether a person is ‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’, ‘lunatic’ or ‘imbecile or idiot’
1881 - City or parish, address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, place of birth and whether a person is ‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’, ‘lunatic’ or ‘imbecile or idiot’
1891 - City or parish, address, number of rooms occupied if less than five, names of people in the household, relation to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, whether an employer, employee or neither, place of birth and whether a person is ‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’ or ‘lunatic, imbecile or idiot’
1901 - City or parish, address, number of rooms occupied if less than five, names of people in the household, relation to head, marital status, age, sex, occupation, whether an employer, a worker or living on own means, if working at home, place of birth and whether a person is ‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’, ‘lunatic’ or ‘imbecile or feeble minded’
1911 - Address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, age, sex, marital status, for married woman the amount of years they have been married and how many children they have had and how many of these are still alive, occupation, industry, whether they work from home or not, place of birth, nationality if born abroad and whether a person is ‘totally deaf’ or ‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘totally blind’, ‘lunatic’ or ‘imbecile or feeble minded’ and at what age they first suffered from this, signature of head of household
1921 - Address, names of people in the household, relationship to head, age in years and months, sex, marital status, for children under 15 whether one or both of their parents are deceased, place of birth, nationality if born abroad, whether a child attends school full time or part time, occupation, employer’s details, work address, number of children aged under 16 and their ages, signature of head of household

Please note that terms relating to disability are written according to the question at the time.

The questions asked in Scotland were almost identical. The appearance of the 1911 and and 1921 differ however as no household schedules or summary books survive. Census information can be seen in enumeration books.

Locating UK census records

The original census returns and enumerators schedules from England and Wales are held at The National Archives in Kew. Scottish enumeration books are held by the Registrar General for Scotland in Edinburgh. The easiest way to search for your ancestor in a census is online via a database search. MyHeritage has digitised images for the 1841-1911 census returns for England and Wales and transcripts for the Scottish census. You can search for your ancestor in the UK census returns below.

Tips for using UK census returns

A huge majority of the UK population were recorded in the UK census returns, however some people were missed. This is often due to a misunderstanding or an error on the enumerator's part. The travelling communities were the most frequently missed, including those living on canal boats and in vardoes. The most common reason for being unable to find a person in census returns however is down to user error. You may need to change your search terms in order to find a person. For example, if you are searching for a person born in 1851, allow for five year flexibility either side when searching. People were less aware of their ages in the past and would often make a best guess.

A person may be recorded under their full name or under an abbrevation or nickname. For example, William John Dean may be recorded under that name or as William Dean, Willie Dean, W J Dean or the name could be misspelt such as William John Dene. Try searching for different variations. Some people, such as prison inmates and psychiatric inpatients were recorded by their initials only. William John Dean may therefore actually be recorded as WJD or WD, making identification very difficult.

A person's details may not be completely accurate. As previously mentioned, names and ages were not always accurately recorded. Additionally, people may not have known their true birth place or this may have been misspelt by the enumerator. The description of relationships have also changed over time. Someone recorded as a daughter-in-law may actually be known as a step-daughter in todays terms. Be open minded with your research.

Note that the relationship column refers to the person's relationship to the head of the household. If the head is a man living with his wife and a child is present listed as his daughter, she may be the product of an earlier marriage. Further sources such as birth certificates and baptism registers should be viewed to confirm parentage.

Explore more about UK census records

UK and Ireland Census at MyHeritage
Exploring the new 1921 UK Censusat Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Censuses Around the World: What You Need to Know About Census Collections and Genealogy at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Census Data – Discover census collections on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base

References