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.