The census was taken on the following dates:
10th March 1801
27th May 1811
28th May 1821
30th May 1831

Most of the early returns for 1801-1831 were unfortunately destroyed, although in some isolated instances they have been preserved. The early returns, where they have survived, usually only name the householder and list the number of people in the house, although occasionally the whole population is listed. The known surviving records for Staffordshire and their current locations are as follows:

1801

Lichfield, parish of St Michael's only (located at Lichfield Record Office)
Stafford, Marston township in the parish of St Mary only (located at Stafford Record Office)
Walsall, complete civil parish including Bloxwich & Bentley. (located at Walsall LHC, indexed)
Wednesbury. (located at Stafford Record Office, copy at Wednesbury Library)
 

1811

Colwich. (located at Stafford Record Office)
Newcastle-under-Lyme. (located at Stafford Record Office)
Walsall, Borough only. (located at Walsall LHC)
Wednesbury. (located at Stafford Record Office, copy at Wednesbury Library)
 

1821

Walsall, Borough only. (located at Walsall LHC)
Wednesbury. (located at Stafford Record Office, copy at Wednesbury Library)
 

1831

Blymhill. (located at Stafford Record Office)
Walsall, Borough only. (located at Walsall LHC)
 

The census was taken on the 7th June 1841

• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1841 census on CD

   

  • Archive CD Books have produced images of the Staffordshire 1841 census as a set of 23 CDs which are also available individually from Genfair

The census was taken on the 30th March 1851

• The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry have produced indexes to the 1851 census for most parts of Staffordshire. Most of these are surname indexes only although some contain full transcripts of the original census returns.
  References to the available indexes may be found on the individual parish pages.

   

• Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry ( BMSGH ) have produced the complete Staffordshire 1851 census images and surname index which is available on CDs or DVD as a full county set or for individual census districts.
• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1851 census on CD or DVD.

   

• A list of Staffordshire Places which lay in a different registration county in the 1851 Census.

The census was taken on the 7th April 1861

• Archive CD Books have produced images of the Staffordshire 1861 census on CD available from Genfair

   

• Archive CD Books have also produced a supplement CD for the 1861 census of Places in Staffordshire that appear in the Derbyshire Registration Districts

   

• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1861 census on CD or DVD.
• Staffordshire 1861 census information is starting to appear online as part of the Free Census Project. The site is searchable and, as the name suggests, free. The status of the Staffordshire records. Volunteers to help are very welcome.

   

• David Heydon's street index of the Staffordshire 1861 census.

The census was taken on the 2nd April 1871

• Archive CD Books have produced images of the Staffordshire 1871 census as a set of CDs which are also available as individual registration districts available from Genfair

   

• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1871 census on CD or DVD.

   

• The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry have produced a CD containing surname indexes to the North Staffordshire part of the 1871 census (Market Drayton, Newport, Stafford, Stone, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Wolstanton, Stoke-on-Trent, Leek, Cheadle, Uttoxeter, Ashbourne & Congleton) which is searchable on surnames and gives the piece and folio numbers for the original returns.

   

The census was taken on the 3rd April 1881

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) have provided the 1881 England & Wales census index online in FamilySearch. From the home page choose "search", and select the 1881 census, one of the available databases. The census index is also available on CDROM from the LDS church. From the FamilySearch home page choose Order/Download products, search for "British Census" or "1881". The index is available to view in Family History Centres of the LDS Church, and many other libraries and record offices.

   

• The 1881 UK census has also been produced as a set of CDs by the LDS Church.

   

• A list of Staffordshire Places which lay in a different registration county in the 1881 Census.

   

The census was taken on the 5th April 1891

• The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry have produced a CD containing surname indexes to the 1891 census for piece numbers RG12/2223, 2224 & 2287-2298 (Bilston, Dudley, Kinver, Sedgley, Tettenhall, Wednesfield, Willenhall, Wolverhampton & Wombourne) which is searchable on surnames and gives the piece and folio numbers for the original returns.

   

• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1891 census on CD or DVD.

   

• Staffordshire 1891 census information is starting to appear online as part of the Free Census Project. The site is searchable and, as the name suggests, free. The status of the Staffordshire records. Volunteers to help are very welcome.

The census was taken on the 31st March 1901

• 1901 Census Online is available from Genes Reunited by arrangement with the National Archives.

• Microfiche of parts or all of the 1901 census for Staffordshire are available at some archives and record offices, e.g. Staffordshire Record Office.
• S & N Genealogy have produced images of the Staffordshire 1901 census on CD or DVD.

A population census has been taken every ten years since 1801, excluding 1941. Most of the early returns for 1801-1831 were unfortunately destroyed, although in some isolated instances they have been preserved. The early returns, where they have survived usually only name the householder and list the number of people in the house, although occasionally the whole population is listed.
The census returns for 1841 were the first to be kept and released by the Public Record Office after a hundred years, and the returns for 1841-1911 are now publicly available. The 1841 census was the first to record all personal names, although place of birth was not recorded, simply a Y or N as to whether they were born within the county. For those under the age of 14 the exact age is given, but the ages of those aged 15 or more are rounded down to the nearest 5 years below, eg someone who stated he was 23 would have been recorded as 20.
From the 1851 census onwards the place of birth and exact age stated is recorded.

• Information on Staffordshire Censuses by year:

   

  • Staffordshire 1801 - 1831 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1841 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1851 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1861 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1871 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1881 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1891 Census

     

  • Staffordshire 1901 Census

     

• General information on census for England and Wales

   

• The National Statistics' "200 Years of the Census" Staffordshire page.

   

This table lists the places related to Staffordshire which at the 1851 Census lay in a registration county of a different name to their historic county.
Column 1 lists the place appearing in the 1851 Census. Column 2 lists the place type (e.g. parish, township). Column 3 lists the historic county of each place and Column 4 the registration county. Column 5 lists the Registration District of each place and the Registration District number.

The Place Name Index to this Census is arranged by registration counties and this table allows cross checking against the "historic" county more usually found in other records.

This table lists the places related to Staffordshire which at the 1881 Census lay in a registration county of a different name to their historic county.
Column 1 lists the place appearing in the 1851 Census. Column 2 lists the historic county of each place and Column 3 the registration county. Column 4 lists the Registration District of each place and the Registration District number.

The Place Name Index to this Census is arranged by registration counties and this table allows cross checking against the "historic" county more usually found in other records.

[From Public Record Office document RG13/4825, Folio 42 Page ii]

The examples page referred to in the following directions is also available here, but please note that the image file is of 217 Kb and may take a while to download.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO THE ENUMERATOR AS TO THE USE OF THIS BOOK.

Immediately after the completion of the Enumeration-

(l.) Arrange and number the Occupiers' Schedules, Shipping, Insitution and other Scedules in such Order that all those relating to One Civil Parish, one Ecclesiastical Parish, one Municipal Borough, or other local subdivision, follow each other.

(2.) COPY THE SCHEDULES VERY LEGIBLY IN INK into this Enumeration Book, in accordance with the following directions:-
 

1. Insert first, in the spaces at the top of the page, the name of the Civil Parish; Ecclesiastical Parish; County Borough, Municipal Borough or Urban District; Ward of Municipal Borough or of Urban District; Rural District; Parliamentary Borough or Division; and Town, Village or Hamlet, in which the houses referred to on that page are situated, drawing' your pen through such of the headings as are inapplicable; see Example. No Schedule is to be entered on a page unless it belong to each of the local sub-divisions named in the Heading. See also Instruction No. 6.
    
2. In the first column, write the No. of the Schedule you are about to copy, commencing with No. 1; in the second column the name of the Road, Street; Square, &c., in which the. house is situated, and the No. of the house, .or any distinctive name by which it is known; then insert in the third column the figure 1 for an Inhabited House. As regards an Uninhabited House, i.e., a House in which no person abode on the Census night, its number or name should be entered in column 2, and a figure 1 inserted opposite in column 4 if the house be in occupation for business or other purpose, but in column 5 if not in occupation for any purpose. For a house in course of building a figure 1 should be inserted in column 6.
    
3. Under the last entry for each house draw a strong DOUBLE line, as in the example on the opposite page, to separate such entries from those for the house next following; and where there are two or more occupiers in the same house, draw a single line to distinguish the separate families, as in the example, [NOTE-- The occupier of a separate tenement, even if living alone without wife or family, must be treated as a separate family.]
   
   Enter in the same manner the contents of all the other Schedules, in strict numerical order.
    
4. Insert in- col.7 against the name of each occupier the number of rooms occupied if less than five.
    
5. Copy from the Schedule into the other columns. all the particulars concerning the persons returned therein, without any omission, or any abbreviation except those authorised in the Instruction at the foot of this page, taking especial care to enter the ages of MALES and of FEMALES in their PROPER COLUMNS, and to copy front columns 6, 7 and 8 of the Schedules without any omission, alteration or abbreviation, into Columns 13, 14 and 15.
    
6. When the particulars of all the Schedules belonging to the Civil Parish; Ecclesiastical Parish; County Borough, Municipal Borough or Urban District; Ward of Municipal Borough or of Urban District; Rural District; Parliamentary Borough or Division; and Town, Village or Hamlet named in the Heading have been entered, write across the page, "End of the Civil Parish of ----," End of the Municipal Borough of ----," or end of any other local sub-division which happens to he included on that page. See the printed Example. on page iii. The rest of the page must then be left blank, and the following Schedule must be entered on the first line of the next page.
    
7. At the foot of each page, on the line for the purpose, enter (a) the total number of Schedules; (b) of Houses in the respective columns 3, 4, 5 and 6; (c) of Tenements of less than 5 rooms; (d) of Males in column 11; and (e) of Females in column 12, as in the example.
    
8. If you have enumerated any persons in Canal Boats or Barges; enter the particulars from the Schedules for Vessels in the same manner as from the Occupiers' Schedules, stating in col.2 the locality in which the boats, &c., were enumerated.
    
9. If you have obtained information and noted it in your Memorandum Book, respecting persons not dwelling in houses but in Barns; Sheds, Caravans, &c., the particulars, whether complete or not, should be entered under the proper Road, Lane, or other locality; in making up the totals at the foot of that page, however, the Barns, Sheds &c., must not be counted as Houses.
    
10. Before proceeding to make up the Abstract on page v., satisfy yourself (1) that all your Schedules have been correctly copied into this Book, (2) that the ages have been correctly entered in columns 11 and 12 for Males and Females respectively, and (3) that the additions at the foot of each page are accurate; then enter the totals in the Abstract and cast such figures to an aggregate for the whole Enumeration District. Finally, fill up Summary Table 1 on page iv and sign the first Declaration on page vi.
     

ABBREVIATIONS TO BE USED BY THE ENUMERATOR.

ROAD, STREET, &c. - Write "Rd." for Road; "St." for Street; "Pl." for Place; "Sq." for Square; "Ter." for Terrace.

NAMES - Write the First Christian Name in full; adding the initials, or the first letters of the other Christian Names of a person who has more than one.

When the same surname occurs several times in succession, write "Do" for all such surnames except the first; which must be written in full.

Where the name or any other particular, is not known and cannot be ascertained, "n.k." should be entered in its place.

In the column "RELATION TO HEAD OF FAMILY" write "Head" for Head of family; "Daur." for Daughter; "F.-in-law" and "M.-in-law" for Father-in-law and Mother-in-law respectively; "Serv." for Servant.

In the column "CONDITION AS TO MARRIAGE" write "M." for married; "S." for unmarried; "Wid." for widow; or "Widr." for widower.

In the columns for "age" write the number of years in figures very distinctly in the proper column for "Males" or "Females" as the case may be; in the case of children under One Year of age, as the age must be expressed in months, write "Mo." distinctly after the figures.

In the lists below PTV (Pay To View) is used generally to indicate sites that charge (either per view or by subscription) for images of the original documents or for full transcripts. These sites may provide basic details via free indexes.

There has been a census every ten years since 1801, excluding 1941. However, only those that date from 1841 are of real value to the family historian. The administration of the early census returns 1801-1831 was the responsibility of the Overseers of the Poor and the clergy.

Most of these early returns were unfortunately destroyed, although in some isolated instances they have been preserved. Note though that the surviving (pre-1841) lists are often little more than head counts. The census returns for 1841 were the first to be gathered under the aupices of the newly formed General Register Office and the first to be kept for posterity. In general, the information is released to the public after a hundred years. For example, the public will get access to the 1921 census returns in January 2022.

The 1841 census was different from the previous censuses in two important respects. Firstly, the administration passed into the hands of the Registrar General and the Superintendant Registrars, who were responsible for the registration of births, marriages and deaths. Many recent reforms, including the 1836 General Registration Act, which had culminated in the introduction of civil registration had resulted in a new layer of central and local government.

When the 1841 census was being prepared, it was seen as a logical step that it should also supervise the census. Consequently, civil registration and census taking became inter-related; any change in local boundaries or districts affected them both.

Secondly, the emphasis changed from questions concerned with population size, and the numbers engaged in certain occupations and the condition of the housing stock, to a much more detailed analysis of individuals and families, and the communities in which they lived.

The information recorded on individuals has tended to increase with each census. The information collected in each census is detailed on (internet archive copy) this GenDocs page.

Guy Etchells has assembled a collection of the official instructions given to enumerators for each census.

In 1851, in addition to the census of population a census was taken of places of worship. Although this was purely voluntary, most places of Worship made returns. This Ecclesiastical Census of 1851 is described by The National Archives in Discovery and the returns have been made available (free online) as part of the Digital Microfilm Project.

The census was taken on the following dates:

10 Mar		1801		No longer exists, with a few exceptions
27 May		1811		No longer exists, with a few exceptions
28 May		1821		No longer exists, with a few exceptions
30 May		1831		No longer exists, with a few exceptions
6 June		1841		Now available to the public, details below
30 March		1851		Now available to the public, details below
7 April		1861		Now available to the public, details below
2 April		1871		Now available to the public, details below
3 April		1881		Now available to the public, details below
5 April		1891		Now available to the public, details below
31 March		1901		Now available to the public, details below
2 April		1911		Now available to the public, details below
19 June		1921		Expected to be released by TNA in January 2022, see link below
26 April		1931		Destroyed during WW2
29 September		1939		(WW2 National Registration) Now available to the public, details below
8 April		1951
23 April		1961
25 April		1971
5 April		1981
21 April		1991
29 April		2001

Census returns are held at:

• The National Archives
  • For England and Wales only
• District Libraries, County Record Offices and FHS research rooms
  • normally have copies of the returns for their own area
• LDS
  • have copies of the census microfilms. These usually need to be ordered unless you are visiting a branch of the LDS in the same area as the returns in which you are interested.

It is advisable before making a trip to a library or record office, to check the exact whereabouts of specific census returns in order to avoid a wasted visit. Also some libraries may have a limited number of viewers and a booking may be necessary.

1801-1831

A few of these returns, in various level of detail, still exist.

• Do look at this Family Search page.
• And the "Other Censuses for England and Wales" tab on the 1911 census site.
• To see a detailed list what exists, look at this PDF on the University of Essex's server.
• There is a (work in progress) database of names in these returns online under the title Early British Census.
• See the GENUKI page for Devon for transcripts of surviving Devon returns

1841 (6 June)

• Some local indexes exist - see GENUKI county pages or those of the appropriate FHS
• Note that a number of pieces of the 1841 census have been lost.
  The missing pieces and their coverage are detailed on this FindMyPast page.
• PTV: national index & page images are available via this page from The National Archives (links to Ancestry)
• PTV: national index & page images are available from findmypast.co.uk
• PTV: indexes, transcripts, images for some counties are available from TheGenealogist
• PTV: indexes & images for some counties are available from BritishOrigins

1851 (30 March)

• Many local indexes exist - see GENUKI county pages or those of the appropriate FHS
• Note that a number of parishes are misssing from the 1851 census - see this FindMyPast page.
• There is a web site dedicated to theunfilmed Manchester census - http://www.1851-unfilmed.org.uk
• A case study on (internet archive copy) The Incompleteness of the 1851 Census Returns is available from GenDocs.
• PTV: national index & page images are available via this page from The National Archives (links to Ancestry)
• PTV: indexes, transcripts, images for some counties are available from TheGenealogist
• 1851 Census - 2% Sample. An ESRC-sponsored research project led by Professor Michael Anderson at Edinburgh University transcribed a 2% sample of English and Welsh census records some years ago. Through a misunderstanding, they were placed on GENUKI for a short while in 1995, but immediately withdrawn when we were informed that Professor Anderson and the ESRC had not given, and would not give, permission for the results of his project to be made freely available. The fact that the original census records can now be freely copied, thanks to the changed TNA rules does not alter the fact that Professor Anderson and the ESRC have a right to refuse to allow their transcriptions to be copied. Unfortunately there are still web-site owners who disregard the owner's wishes and continue to make copies of the original 2% sample files available on-line. We strongly recommend the alternative legal copies of these files that can now be purchased on CD-ROM, for example from S&N Genealogy Supplies. These have been augmented from other sources and more fully validated, and are accompanied by some excellent search facilities.

1861 (7 April)

• Some local indexes exist - see GENUKI county pages or those of the appropriate FHS
• Note that a number of pieces of the 1861 census have been lost.
  The missing pieces and their coverage are detailed on this FindMyPast page.
• PTV: national index & page images are available via this page from The National Archives (links to Ancestry)
• PTV: national index & page images are available from findmypast.co.uk
• PTV: indexes, transcripts, images for some counties are available from TheGenealogist

1871 (2 April)

• Some local indexes exist - see GENUKI county pages or those of the appropriate FHS
• Note that there are problems with a number of parishes in the 1871 census - see this FindMyPast page.
• PTV: national index & page images are available via this page from The National Archives (links to Ancestry)
• PTV: national index & page images are available from findmypast.co.uk
• PTV: indexes, transcripts, images for some counties are available from TheGenealogist
• PTV: indexes & images for some counties are available from BritishOrigins

UK and Ireland: Census

In general information about the availability of census records is to be found in GENUKI at the level of the separate countries making up the UK and Ireland - i.e. for England and Wales, for Scotland, and for Ireland. Here we just provide more general information related to the census.

Lumas, Susan. Making Use of the Census, The National Archives (2002) 128 pp. [ISBN 190336535x]
["This is a revised edition of this bestselling guide to census records at The National Archives. Census records are some of the most valuable and frequently used by family historians and the release of a new census every ten years is an eagerly anticipated event. Published to coincide with the opening of 1901 Census in January 2002, this new edition incorporates all the essential details for researchers wishing to exploit this new and important resource. It also offers practical advice to historians to find their way into the nineteenth century returns. It provides help in tracking down individuals as part of a family tree, and is equally helpful to social or economic historians. . ."]

• A helpful tutorial on using census information, including advice regarding possible sources of errors, is provided on the British Genealogy website.
• The 1901 Census of England and Wales is available online at FindMyPast, with a free index search facility. To accompany this resource, the Public Record Office have produced a fascinating set of pages entitled 1901: Living at the Time of the Census (archived copy).
• Barry Ruck's Mini FAQ (archived copy) deals primarily with matters involving the census (last updated 2005).
• 1901 Census - Royal Navy Ships (archived copy) - Jeffery Knaggs has compiled an index to Royal Navy ships that were at sea or in ports abroad on 31st March 1901.
• 1901 Census - Institutions (archived copy) - Jeffery Knaggs is compiling an index to Institutions on the 1901 Census of England and Wales.
• British Census Indexes, Transcripts, and Images Available Online or on CD - a useful summary from Daniel Morgan.
• Statistics from the 2001 census provided by 'National Statistics' (formerly the Office of National Statistics).
• A Vision of Britain Through Time. Information from the 1801 to 2001 censuses arranged by local-authority area.
• The Online Historical Population Reports project at AHDS History have a project to provide searchable online access all the census reports for Great Britain (1801-1931) and reports of the registrars-general (1836-1920) for England, Wales and Scotland. The current version is a demo version, but release version will be launched on 9th January 2007. Note that this site contains only statistical reports, and does not include information about individuals.
• The British Surname Atlas CD allows exploration of the distribution of forenames and surnames in the 1881 census returns.
• Census substitutes: For the years for which census returns are not available, consider Voting Registers, Directories, Manorial Records.