A single census page can tell you who lived together, how old they were, what they did for a living and where they were born. Read carefully, it can also point you to records you did not know to look for.
What a census is
A census is an official count of the population, usually taken on one specific night. Enumerators visited each household, or households completed a form, listing everyone present. Many countries repeated the exercise every ten years, creating a series of snapshots of the same families over time.
The columns you will usually see
Exact questions changed from year to year and country to country, but most census returns include some of the following:
- Address or location, which helps you find the family on a map and in other local records.
- Name of each person in the household.
- Relationship to the head of household, such as wife, son, daughter, servant or lodger.
- Marital status.
- Age, sometimes with a separate column for males and females.
- Occupation.
- Place of birth, which can lead you to earlier records in another town or country.
- Additional details in some years, such as language spoken, years married, number of children born or disabilities.
Reading it carefully
- Transcribe the whole household, not just your ancestor. Other names may be relatives you have not yet identified.
- Look at the neighbours on the pages before and after. Relatives often lived close by.
- Note the exact reference of the page so you can find it again and cite it.
- Check the enumerator's notes and any marks or corrections in the margins.
Tip: Ages on census returns are often a year or two out, and some people adjusted their age for personal reasons. Use them as a guide rather than an exact figure.
Following a family through several censuses
Lining up a family across consecutive census years is one of the most effective research techniques. You can see children being born and leaving home, spot when a spouse died or remarried, and track the family's moves. Differences between years are clues: a new birthplace for a child might reveal a move you did not know about.
Common challenges
- Difficult handwriting. Compare unclear letters with clearer examples elsewhere on the same page.
- Misspelled names. Search under several spellings and with first names only.
- Missing families. They may have been away on census night, staying with relatives or listed under a different head of household.