In 1377 a poll-tax census was taken, when it was found that, exclusive of children under 14 and mendicants, the entire population of Cornwall did not exceed 34,960 persons. (Polsue).

Census information was collected in Cornwall every ten years starting in 1801, except for 1941 when the Country was at war. The original purpose of the census was to provide population statistics. However, the 1841 Census was the first meaningful one to help family history researchers because this is the earliest to list personal names nationally. Between 1801 and 1841 there were occasions when names were recorded at the parish level but these were few and far between.
From 1841 onwards the records show the names of each person at the address at which he or she spent the night of the census date. Returns become available for public inspection on the first working day of the year following the year in which they become one hundred years old. Researchers should be aware that there is much evidence to suggest that people did not always state their ages correctly.

1841 Census Peculiarities. Parishes of birth were not recorded in the 1841 Census, although an indication 'Y' or 'N' was given as to whether they were born within the county. For those under the age of 14 the exact age is normally given, but the ages of those aged 15 or more are generally (but not always) rounded down to the nearest 5 years below - so someone who stated he was 19 would have been recorded as 15. From the 1851 census the information is more meaningful. The following information was published in The West Briton Newspaper on 7th May 1841:

HINTS RESPECTING THE NEW CENSUS, to be taken on Monday, the 7th of June, 1841.

1. The best mode of taking a census is by a map and a register. On the map, the situation of houses only should be marked. Every house should be numbered, and then a register of every inmate made. The commissioners have adopted the plan of a register, and arranged an expensive machinery for taking it, but the form is very imperfect. It is to be written in pencil.
Ages above 15 are to be entered thus - at 29, put 25, if 34, put 30, and so on. If a person has two Christian names, only one is to be inserted. The county where born is to be recorded, but not the parish, which the Act also requires. Such a register will be of little use. At the same cost one might be taken which would ensure an accurate census, and might be useful for many purposes in a parish till the decennial enumeration of 1851. A register of this kind was prepared in 1831 for a large parish in this county, and has been of great service ever since.

2. The attention of the commissioners should be directed to the whole of the United Kingdom, including the Norman Isles. This is rarely the case in our statistical documents. France, though larger, always appears entire, whilst the British and Norman Isles are generally arranged in separate and detached parts.

3. Cornishmen should especially look to the area covered by 1. the county; 2. the archdeaconry; 3. the parliamentary districts; and 4, the poor law unions. This surface contains 209 entire parishes, of which 201 belong alike to each of these four general divisions. The remaining eight parishes on the line of the Tamar from north to south are 1. Bridgerule, 2. North Tamerton, 3. Boyton; 4. North Petherwin; 5. Werrington; 6. St. Giles in the Heath; 7. St. Budeaux; and 8, Maker. From want of attention to these eight parishes, it frequently happens that the description and statistics of all the four general divisions of Cornwall are inaccurately given. This provincial geography should be taught in our schools.

4. In the last official census of 1831 for Cornwall, there are the following errors and defects: - 1. the Cornish part of St. Budeaux is not noticed; 2. the parishes of Cuby and St. James, Tregony, are not distinguished; 3, the population of Landrake and St. Erney is not severed; 4. the proportion of Laneast in the hundred of East, and Lesnewth is not given; 5. there is a duplicate entry of 474 for the Lanlivery part of Lostwithiel Borough; 6. the population of the parishes of Creed and Probus cannot be ascertained, because the proportion of each in Grampound is not given; 7. the population of the hamlet of Trewarlet, near Launceston, is not shown, though it changes its parish every year. In the forthcoming census care should be taken to rectify these inaccuracies.

5. Inhabited rocks and small extra-parochial places are frequently overlooked, such as St. Nicholas Island, the Eddystone, Looe Island, the Longships, Launceston Castle, & c.

6. No provision seems to be made for ascertaining the population of small towns, such as Polperro, Bude, Boscastle, Porthleaven, and Wadebridge; nor of larger ones not having a municipal or parliamentary franchise, such as Redruth, Camborne, St. Austell, etc.

7. Greater attention should also be paid to the area of towns, by showing within what space the population is congregated. Take for instance the towns of Launceston, Liskeard, and Bodmin. From the last census you cannot discover which town had the denser population; we believe that at Launceston more persons were then living within a square mile than at either Bodmin or Liskeard. But the public documents do not show this, as the fact as to Launceston must be gathered from the retun of three parishes. These circumstances might be shewn on a statistical map, which the government or the literary societies in each county should prepare to accompany and elucidate the census of the 7th of June.

May 4, 1841

1841 and 1851 Census - Collection of Data. In the censuses up to 1851, census information was collected at parish level within the Hundreds. From 1851, the information was collected at parish level within Registration Districts which had been established in 1837. (See also under Civil Registration in Cornwall).

Ecclesiastical Census of 1851. In 1851, in addition to the census of population, an additional census was taken of places of worship. Although this was purely voluntary, most places of worship made returns. The returns for England and Wales are now among the Home Office records in The National Archives (HO 129).
Clergy completing the returns were asked to discover 'how far the means of Religious Instruction provided in Great Britain during the last fifty years have kept pace with the population during the same period, and to what extent those means are adequate to meet the spiritual wants of the increased population of 1851'.

Merchant Shipping in 1861. In the 1861 census, Merchant Shipping was treated peculiarly, under Shipping Returns. Shipping returns for Cornwall and its border are as follows:

• RG9/4495 - Falmouth.
• RG9/4456 - Falmouth.
• RG9/4455 - Fowey.
• RG9/4453 - Fowey, Truro & Penzance.
• RG9/4496 - Penzance.
• RG9/4491 - Plymouth.
• RG9/4492 - Plymouth.
• RG9/4454 - St Ives & Padstow.

National Censuses. The dates of Censuses in England and Wales are:

1801 - 10th March. (Mainly numerical only). 1811 - 27th May. (Mainly numerical only). 1821 - 28th May. (Mainly numerical only). 1831 - 30th May. (Mainly numerical only). 1841 - 7th June. 1851 - 30th March. 1861 - 7th April. 1871 - 2nd April. 1881 - 3rd April. 1891 - 5th April. 1901 - 31st March.. (Some entries from the 1901 Census are being put on-line separately). 1911 - 2nd April.

1921 - 19th June. 1931 - 26th April. (All records destroyed by a fire in December 1942). 1941 - World War II began in 1939; because of this, there was no census taken in 1941. However, National Registration had previously taken place on 29th September 1939 (the "1939 Register"). 1951 - 9th April. 1961 - 24th April. 1971 - 26th April. 1981 - 6th April. 1991 - 22nd April. 2001 - 29th April. 2011 - 27th March.

Other Available Census Information:

• The availability and whereabouts of census information for the parishes of Cornwall are given on each Towns and Parishes page, under the sub-title 'CENSUS'.
• Census information in the UK is increasingly being transcribed onto Internet websites by the Free Census Project
• The Cornwall Online Census Project has transcribed the censuses of Cornwall 1841 to 1891
• A statistical analysis of the Cornish censuses (1801 to 1991) by the Public Records Office, may be available from the National Archives.

[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.