Wednesday, 15 October 2008
A census of population has been taken in England and Wales every ten years since 1801, (with the exception of 1941, on account of war). Personal details, rather than merely statistical information, were only recorded from the census of 1841. From 1851, the details include name, address, age, place of birth and relationship to the head of the household. (The 1841 census asked only for county of birth rather than precise place of birth.) The census returns are arranged in the order in which the census enumerator went about his area to accomplish his task. They are not arranged in alphabetical order of surname, and so require extensive searching. For this reason, indexes to some of the censuses have been made by family history societies.
The original records of the census are closed to public scrutiny for a hundred years, so the most recent census to be seen is that of 1901. The records of every census from 1841-1901 can now be searched online, and full details of census returns are available on a pay-to-view basis. Vouchers to view the 1901 census returns can be purchased from your local library and from Doncaster Archives - as can vouchers for the Ancestry website, which provides access to all of the available census returns.
Microform copies of the census for the Doncaster area from 1841 to 1901 are available in the Doncaster Central Library. To reserve a microfilm or microfiche reader, telephone Doncaster 734307.
Doncaster Archives has a photocopy and transcript of the 1881 census for the Doncaster area and a microfiche copy of the 1891 census. You will need to reserve a microfiche reader to use the 1891 census. There is also available the name indexes to the 1851 census of the Doncaster area and the 1871 census of Doncaster town, published by the Doncaster Family History Society.
The Family History Society has census information available in its reading room. See its website for details at www.doncasterfhs.co.uk
