CENSUS RECORDS

The census returns are amongst the most useful sources of historical information about places and individuals. The first national census was taken in 1801 Since then it has been repeated every ten years, except in wartime. As the returns are closed for a period of 100 years, those currently available for consultation by the public cover the census years between 1841 - 1901.

1801 - 1831
The census returns are purely numerical in content and contain no personal information.

1841 CENSUS
The first detailed national census was taken on Sunday 6th June, 1841. It lists the name, age, sex and occupation (sometimes fairly generalised) of each person in each household. It also indicates whether a person was born in Staffordshire or not by the use of a "Y" or "N", but it does not record the parish of origin. It was usual to apply the "rounding-down" principle with ages for anyone over the age of 15. The age was rounded down to the nearest five years.

1851 - 1901
The 1851 census records full names, exact ages, sex, occupation, trade or profession, family relationships and parish and county of birth. Addresses such as they were are given, although it should be remembered that particularly in rural areas there was little street-numbering and few detailed addresses at this time.

The subsequent census returns gradually record more information. By 1891, more detail is recorded concerning employment status and the size of individual dwelling houses and in 1901 whether a house is in occupation or is being built. It is also worth remembering that as the population increased and urban areas developed during the later 19th century, the census returns become comparatively bigger and take longer to work through.

WHERE TO FIND THE CENSUS

Staffordshire Record Office holds microfiche copies of the census returns for 1841 - 1901 for the whole of the historic county of Stafford. This includes those parts of the Black Country transferred to the West Midlands county in 1974.

Stoke on Trent City Archives holds microfiche copies for 1841-1901 for North Staffordshire north of but not including Eccleshall, Stone and Uttoxeter.

Lichfield Record Office/ Library holds microfilm copies of the census returns for Lichfield City and for the area of the former Lichfield Rural District Council for 1841 – 1891 and microfiche copies for 1901.

Burton Family and Local History Centre holds microfilm copies of the census returns for 1841 - 1891 and microfiche copies for 1901 for Burton and surrounding villages.

A number of libraries in Staffordshire hold microfilm/fiche copies for their immediate area and a list of these holdings is available from the Staffordshire Record Office.

The 1901 census is online at www.census.pro.gov.uk