United Kingdom Census Dates from U.K. The National Archives
1801 Tue Mar 10 - head count only
1811 Mon May 27 - headcount only
1821 Mon May 28 - headcount only1831 Sun May 29 - headcount only
1841 Sun Jun 6 - ages rounded
1851 Sun Mar 30
1861 Sun Apr 7
1871 Sun Apr 2
1881 Sun Apr 3
1891 Sun Apr 5
1901 Sun Mar 31
1911 Sun Apr 2
United States of America Census Dates from The United States Census Overview
1790 Mon Aug 2 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1800 Mon Aug 4 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1810 Mon Aug 6 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1820 Mon Aug 7 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1830 Tue Jun 1 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1840 Mon Jun 1 - names of head of household only, others tallied
1850 Sat Jun 1
1860 Fri Jun 1
1870 Wed Jun 1
1880 Tue Jun 1
1890 Mon Jun 2
1900 Fri Jun 1
1910 Fri Apr 15
1920 Thu Jan 1
1930 Tue Apr 1
1940 Mon Apr 1
The census, an enumeration of a population, is often a family historian's first line of inquiry when beginning research. We use census records to locate individuals geographically, to define who was living in a home on a specific date, and often to acquire other information, depending on the census year and what questions were on the census form.
Imagine this scenario: The census date is June 1 and a husband/father dies on June 2. The census taker arrives on June 5 to enumerate the family. Census takers' instructions told them to ask for information as of the census date even if they arrived a week later. In this scenario, the husband/father should appear in that census because he was alive on the census date of June 1. All census takers may not have complied with those instructions but knowing them may help explain why someone is shown as living in a particular census and you have other information that indicates he died before the census taker visited the home.
Other sources for information about the U.K. censuses include 1911 Census.org.uk, UK Census Online, and Census Helper.
Another source for information about the U. S. censuses and questions asked is 200 Years of U.S. Census Taking: Population and Housing Questions, 1790-1990.
This post is a contribution to the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge. Go to the link and you can see other submissions for this meme. Alona Tester of Genealogy and History News is the creator and keeper of this meme. Thank you, Alona!
--Nancy.
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You've brought up a good point to remember regarding the census information reflecting an "as of" date and the inconsistencies among census takers. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Wendy. It's also sometimes to more closely determine a birth year (and sometimes, in later census reports) the month of birth. But of course it all depends on if the census taker follower instructions!
DeleteThanks for this handy list of census dates, Nancy. It does make a difference, even when trying to figure out ages, but especially if there was a death in the family around census time. In fact, this reminds me of a case I've been meaning to write about, so double thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're doubly welcome, Shelley! Can't wait to read your post (if you post what you write).
DeleteNancy, it is very useful to have all the census dates in one place. So thank you. I recently sat in on a talk which showed a census page which the householder filled out (he lived by himself), then the census enumerator comes and finds him in died in the chair. So it's written in big red letters ont he bottom of the form that the gentleman was deceased after filling in the census form, and prior to it being collected.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me, Alona, that the census taker would return to the home, find the man deceased, AND make a note of it in the census! I guess that helped some family historian.
DeleteIt is so handy having the census dates altogether, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI know I'll use this page a few times as I continue to use census records. Thanks for visiting, Alona.
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