1841 and 1851 Census
While living in England Joshua and Rebecca Wood were part of 2 census in 1841 and 1851. The following is from those census
Every 10 years there is a Census, the above copies are from
www.ancestry.com.
Since its launch in 1997 Ancestry.com has grown from 472 million text-only records to more than 10 billion online searchable documents and images, including prison logs, ship manifests, historic newspapers and a collection of almost 2.6 million convict records.
Ancestry.com holds many world wide data bases some of which include the 1861 to 1901 census for England and Wales,these are a goldmine of genealogy information. Taken every ten years they give you details like a person's age, parent's birthplace and more. Birth Death and Marriage records between 1837 and 1983 let you pinpoint the dates, places and people in your genealogy search more accurately. and UK and Ireland Parish and Probate records to name just a few
I can only give you a link to the Home page of this site not a link to the original documents on this site as this is a pay to view site so I cant show you the original on my web site
1841
The 1841 census gave me the following information on the Wood family
1 Joshua and Rebecca Wood and family were living in Barton Hartshorn
2 The age of there 5 children was as follows
Elizabeth aged 11
John aged 8
Ellen aged 5
Thomas aged 3
Rebecca aged 1
3 Joshua was aged 35 , Rebecca was aged 30
4 Joshua was a farmer
Every 10 years there is a Census, the above copies are from
www.ancestry.com.
Since its launch in 1997 Ancestry.com has grown from 472 million text-only records to more than 10 billion online searchable documents and images, including prison logs, ship manifests, historic newspapers and a collection of almost 2.6 million convict records.
Ancestry.com holds many world wide data bases some of which include the 1861 to 1901 census for England and Wales,these are a goldmine of genealogy information. Taken every ten years they give you details like a person's age, parent's birthplace and more. Birth Death and Marriage records between 1837 and 1983 let you pinpoint the dates, places and people in your genealogy search more accurately. and UK and Ireland Parish and Probate records to name just a few
I can only give you a link to the Home page of this site not a link to the original documents on this site as this is a pay to view site so I cant show you the original on my web site
1841
The 1841 census gave me the following information on the Wood family
1 Joshua and Rebecca Wood and family were living in Barton Hartshorn
2 The age of there 5 children was as follows
Elizabeth aged 11
John aged 8
Ellen aged 5
Thomas aged 3
Rebecca aged 1
3 Joshua was aged 35 , Rebecca was aged 30
4 Joshua was a farmer
1851
10 years later in the 1851 census a few things had changed in the family and the 1851 census gave use a little bit more information on the family
1 The Wood family were still living in Barton Hartshorn and the address was 14 Manor House
2 Rebecca used Goode as her middle name
3 There were 6 children but some were different
Ellen aged 15
Thomas aged 13
George Newman aged 9
Alice aged 6
Albert aged 3
Louisa Maria aged 1
4 This census gave there place of birth
Joshua Northamptonshire Potty Purry
Rebecca Bucks Radcliffe
and all the children Bucks Barton
5 Joshua`s occupation was still a farmer but this census gave more information. It said the farm was 145 acres and he employed 2 men
10 years later in the 1851 census a few things had changed in the family and the 1851 census gave use a little bit more information on the family
1 The Wood family were still living in Barton Hartshorn and the address was 14 Manor House
2 Rebecca used Goode as her middle name
3 There were 6 children but some were different
Ellen aged 15
Thomas aged 13
George Newman aged 9
Alice aged 6
Albert aged 3
Louisa Maria aged 1
4 This census gave there place of birth
Joshua Northamptonshire Potty Purry
Rebecca Bucks Radcliffe
and all the children Bucks Barton
5 Joshua`s occupation was still a farmer but this census gave more information. It said the farm was 145 acres and he employed 2 men
The children are the ones I would like to focus on
Elizabeth aged 11 in the 1841 census would have be aged 21 but wasn’t living with parents in 1851
John aged 8 in the 1841 census would have be aged 18 but wasn’t living with parents in 1851
Ellen aged 5 living with parents in both census but now aged 15
Thomas aged 3 living with parents in both census but now aged 13
Rebecca aged 1 not in the 1851 census , Maybe she had passed away but don’t really know
All others were born after the 1841 census
George Newman aged 9
Alice aged 6
Albert aged 3
Louisa Maria aged 1
Information on the 1841 Census
The original data has been copied by Ancestry .com from Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851,1861 and 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851 ,1861 and 1871.
The census was a reflect of the individual status as of census night for all individuals who had spent the night in the house. People who were traveling or living abroad were enumerated at the location where they spent the night on census night.
The 1841 Census for England was taken on the night of 6 June 1841. The following information was requested
1 Name of street, avenue, road, etc.
2 House name or number
3 Surname of head of household
4 Name of persons who had spent the night in the household
5 Age The ages of people over 15 years old were usually rounded down to the nearest 5 years. For example, someone who was actually 24 years would have their age listed as 20, and someone who was actually 27 years old would have their age listed as 25.
6 Sex
7 Person’s occupation
8 Where born The "Where Born" column only asked two questions - 1) whether born in same county, and 2) whether born in Scotland, Ireland, or Foreign Parts. Possible answers and abbreviations to question #1 include: Yes (Y), No, (N), or Not Known (NK). For question #2, the following abbreviations were used: Scotland (S), Ireland (I), and Foreign Parts (F).
A major problem with the 1841 census is that it was written in pencil rather than pen. This has resulted in many faded pages which have proved hard to read
The English government took its first national census in 1801 and has been taken every ten years since that date except in 1941. The first genealogically useful census was not taken until 1841, when names were recorded. Enumeration forms were distributed to all households a couple of days before census night and the completed forms were collected the next day. If the head of the house was illiterate or had any problems completing the form the enumerator would assist as much as necessary. All of the details from the individual forms were later sorted and copied into enumerators' books, which are the records we can view images of today. The original householders’ schedules from 1841 to 1901 were destroyed.
The 1841 census returns were organized according to county, hundred and parish names. Consecutive piece numbers were assigned to hundreds or parts of hundreds for reference purposes. You will find the piece number on a paper strip on the side or bottom of every image, following the PRO class number (HO 107). There may be hundreds of pieces within a county.
Pieces are comprised of books which in turn are comprised of enumeration districts. It is the book number rather than the enumeration district number that is important to researchers for referencing; it is shown on the paper strip on the side or bottom of every image following the piece number.
In addition to the piece and book numbers, each page of the returns includes a folio number and/or a page number. The folio number was stamped onto every other page before microfilming and is located in the upper right hand corner of the image. Folio numbering usually starts over at the beginning of each book. The page number is part of the printed form and is found on every page, usually at the top centre. The page numbers start over at the beginning of every enumeration district. A full reference number for a record in the 1841 census includes the PRO class number (HO 107), the piece number, the book number, and the folio number.
The clerks who compiled and reviewed the census data made a variety of marks on the returns. Unfortunately, many of these tally marks were written over personal information and some fields, such as ages, can be difficult to read as a result. More useful marks include a single slash between households within a building and a double slash separating households in separate buildings
Information on the 1851 Census
The 1851 Census for England was taken on the night of 30 March 1851. The following information was requested:
1 Name of street, place or road
2 Name or number of house
3 Name and Surname of each person who abode in the house on the Night of 30 march 1851
4 Relationship to head of the family
5 Condition ( Person's marital status)
6 Age at last birthday (sex is indicated by which column the age is recorded in)
7 Person's rank, profession, or occupation
8 Person's place of birth (if outside of England or Wales, only the country may be given)
9 Whether blind, or deaf and dumb
Enumeration forms (census forms) were distributed to all households a couple of days before census night and the complete forms were collected the next day. All responses were to reflect the individual's status as per the night of the census for all individuals who had spent the night in the house. People who were traveling or living abroad were enumerated at the location where they spent the night on census night.
The census is based on an individuals presence on the night of the census and not if they were permanently living at the returning address. This could give rise to the situation of children living at a house without parents - should their parents be staying the census night elsewhere - or the appearance of families living together. Is that aunt visiting or living with the family
The censuses were undertaken at a time when up to half the adult population were illiterate or semi-illiterate. Many householders would, therefore, have found it difficult to read and interpret the instructions, and this would have led them to give inaccurate and incomplete information. moreover, it seems likely that, because of poor spelling and poor presentation, enumerators would have found it difficult to read some of their census schedules
It should be mentioned that the spelling of surnames only gradually became standardised after 1837 with the state registration of births, deaths and marriages. In the early years of last century many people did not know their correct ages, and for older people age-data should, therefore, be treated with some caution. At a time when the age of consent was 21 householders below this age often had an incentive to falsify their ages in order to rent accommodation and enter into legally-binding contracts. Similarly the ages of child workers appear on occasion to have been falsified to circumvent the various factory ages.
Problems arise in identifying stepchildren, the parents of grandchildren, and relationships among lodgers, boarders and visitors.
The problem affected in particular how lodgers, boarders and different families renting rooms in the same houses .In some instances families of lodgers appear to have been treated as occupiers in their right. On other occasions families co-residing at the same address have been treated as lodgers.
These are just a few of the mistakes or problems that occurred in the Census
To find a full list of problems and census information go to
www.nationarchives.govt.uk
Each registration district was divided into a number of enumeration sub-districts, each of which was the responsibility of an enumerator.
All of the details from the individual forms were sorted and copied into enumerators' books ( CEBs ) The CEBs were then sent to London where census clerks used them to compute various local and national statistics. Although the original census schedules 1841 to 1901 have long been since destroyed the CEBs were kept these are the records we can view images of today on the ancestry.com site
Census returns were collected according to registration district A full reference number for a census record includes the PRO class number which changed each year of the census
(HO 107) 1841 on the night of 6 June 1841
(HO 107) 1851 on the night of 30 March 1851
(RG 9) 1861 on the night of 7 April 1861
(RG 10) 1871 on the night of 2 April 1871
(RG 11) 1881 on the night of 3 April 1881
(RG 12) 1891 on the night of 5 April 1891
(RG 13) 1901 on the night of 31 March 1901
A piece number. The registration districts were divided into sub-districts and assigned consecutive piece numbers for reference purposes. The piece numbers begin in London with number one and work roughly south to north. There may be hundreds of pieces within a county.
In addition to the piece number, each page of the returns includes a folio number and/or a page number. The folio number was stamped onto every other page before microfilming and is located in the upper right hand corner of the image. The page number is part of the printed form and is found on every page in the upper right hand corner. The page numbers start over at the beginning of every enumeration district
A full reference number for a record in the 1851 census includes the PRO class number (HO 107), the piece number, the folio number, and the page number.