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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: dennis dominator on Tuesday 14 June 05 19:58 BST (UK)
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Hi, been relatively new to genealogy i have seen look up offers on this site which has been of use to me. But how does one get a copy of a census are they available on disk and are they simple to use were you just pop it in your computer and type in the relevant information and there you have it . Or is it more complicated than that.
If they are easy to come by theres a couple i wouldn't mind having
Regards.
Dennis Dominator
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There are various suppliers who will sell you copies of various Census records on Cd ... they can work out quite expensive.
http://www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ is another online pay perview site
http://www.1837online.com/Trace2web/ is another
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ Free BMD is a volunteer online resource/community who are trying to make certain areas of the census freely available
http://www.genealogysupplies.com/ is a supplier ... there are many others
http://www.familysearch.org/ The LDS search site has a search facility. You could also go to your local LDS Centre .... there's one in almost every major town.
Your local main library may have some records
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Thanks for the info Falkyrn i have looked up on the sites you supplied me with and found a census CD cost's £49.99.
Are they as easy as they seem were as you just type in what you are looking for and it comes up or are they a nightmare if you don't know what you are doing. I don't mean to sound thick but am only a basic computer user.
Regards
Dennis Dominator
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They are relatively easy to use (no pun intended).
In many the search facilities are pretty good and easy to use the sets from S & N and ArchiveCD contain scanned images of the census pages and you can look at the full entries. Some others sell index CD's which contain as you can imagine only the indexed details and where to find the complete entry in the actual Census
http://www.rod-neep.co.uk/books/census/index.htm has more information about the levels of information available on their Census sets
However their usefulness depends to a large margin on your relatives and their families remaining in the same area. £50 isn't too much if you get a lot of information but if you get only one hit (or nothing at all) it can prove to be expensive.
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It should also be noted that for those with, or have access to, a microfiche reader the census may be obtained from the National Archives (PRO Kew) on microfiche (and microfilm).
I find this still a very useful format.
Cheers
Guy
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I believe a years subscription to ancestry.co.uk is currently about £70 with access to indexes and images of 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 England & Wales with 1851 (and possibly 1841) intended to be online by the end of this year ...........
Casalguidi
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On the 1901 census does the rooms occupied column mean that they family only occupied, say 3 rooms in a bigger house or was the house small? Also does three rooms mean only three rooms ie bedroom, kitchen and living room? If a family occupies 5 rooms or more would this be quite a well to do family?
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Hi Dawn
Yes, that would be the number of rooms occupied by the family .............. a bit like the rates system where we have to (or did do) declare the number of habitable rooms in a property.
At the end of each household on the census, there will be a / underneath the beginning of the name of the last person in the household .......... phew, got that? At the end of each property there will be a // so................
Mr SMITH
Mrs SMITH
Baby SMITH
/
Widow BROWN
/
Mrs JONES
Miss JONES
A visitor
//
All these people lived in the same property but 3 different households ie. SMITHs perhaps 1 room, BROWN perhaps 1 room and JONES 2 rooms.
Does that make sense?
I would certainly envisage that a family occupying 5 rooms or more would possibly be more affluent than many .............. this is often evident by the occupations of the household.
Best wishes
Casalguidi
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Thanks for that. Does that mean that if only one family is recorded at the address and they only occupied 3 rooms then it was just a small house? Also on the 1901 census for my family there is a girl of 13 years who is described as a relative. Her job is Domestic Servent and under column 14 "employer, worker or own account" it says "at home". What does this mean? Did she work for my great-great grandfather or did she live there and work for someone else? Sorry to be a pain asking all these question but I'm really new to this. Thank you.
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Hi Dawn
If one family were occupying 3 rooms in the one house then it was quite possibly a relatively small house. Perhaps you could trace the house (in other census or in more recent times) or find somebody who knows the area to give you some idea of the kind of people/properties in that area at that time.
Even two up/two down small terraced houses were often occupied by two families or more.
If it says "at home" then, assuming that it is correct, she would have been employed in the family home but I wouldn't like to say whether this was in the home where she was a visitor or in her usual family home if there was one.
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Casalguidi
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Thanks you've been a great help.
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I have a quick query on the census please.
In 1881 on the census showing my great grandfather as a baby, with his (unmarried) parents, his father, Samuel Benn is described as "master" rather than "head". His mother is shown as "wife" but she wasn't really.
Has anyone seen "Master" used before instead of "Head" and does it mean anything in particular?
If you wanted to check for yourself, the family were living at 26 Bank, Eccleshill, Bradford. Samuel Benn is probably transcribed as Been, then there is Eliza Vipond, Ellen Vipond, Walter D Vipond and John W Vipond.
Thanks
Louise
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Hi Louise
It wasn't usual for the head of household to be listed as "master" unless he was the master of a vessel or a schoolmaster etc..
The surname is actually written as BEEN ........... it was I who transcribed that for you ;)
Best wishes
Casalguidi
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Casalguidi
Thanks
I found that census entry about twenty years ago, it was ridiculously easy because it took place a week before my Great Grandfather's birth was registered at the same address.
That must be the only time anyone in that family was ever helpful to future genealogists in any way...
I have always been intrigued by the use of the word "Master" in this instance and would love to hear from anyone else who has ever come across it - aside from ships and schools.
Regards
Louise