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Census figures are population statistics collected by the government and are
not without flaws, thus they can only ever be used as an estimate of the
populations at any given time. Despite there flaws, they are able to
provide historians and genealogists alike with valuable information about the
people that lived in any given parish.
Below are links to the total number of people living in each Devon Parish as
compared between various censuses for some of the years between 1801 and 1981.
1841 - 1901 Census Availability
Some of the Censuses for Devon are now available either on CD Rom
or online. They can also be viewed at many public libraries in Devon -
you can find details on the Devon Library and Information pages for Census
Returns of libraries holding the census between 1841 and 1901.
Below follows a listing of the availability of the 1841 to 1901 Census
Returns and where you can either view them online, or buy from various
genealogical suppliers. Please note: that I have no connections to any of the companies
listed, but simply am listing these links for your information.
| Census |
Date of Original Census |
Availability |
Supplier or Online Link |
| 1841 |
7th June
1841 |
CD Rom |
The 1841 Census of Devon will soon be
available on CD Rom in PDF format and can be pre-ordered from Stepping
Stones |
| 1851 |
31st March 1851 |
CD Rom |
The Devon 1851 Census has been transcribed by the
Mormon Church and is available on CD Rom from the Latter-Day Saints
(LDS) Online Catalogue site. The CD is called 1851
British Census and contains the census returns for the
counties of Devon, Norfolk and Warwick. |
| 1861 |
7th April
1861 |
3 CD Rom Set |
The 1861 Census of Devon has been
scanned and now available on a 3 CD Rom Set from Archive
CD Books |
| 1871 |
2nd April
1871 |
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Not available online or on CD Rom and
at present is also un-indexed. Some public libraries in Devon
hold the census returns for their area. |
| 1881 |
3rd
April 1881 |
Online
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The 1881 Census for the whole of
England and Wales, Scotland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Mann, has
been transcribed by the Mormon Church and is now available online with
a searchable index at: Census
Records |
| 25 CD Rom
Set |
The 1881 Census for England and Wales
can also be purchased on CD Rom from the Latter-Day Saints
(LDS) Online Catalogue site and contains a National Index. See 1881
British Census |
| 1891 |
5th April
1891 |
Online |
Transcriptions provided by the FreeCen
Project now with a FreeCen
Database Search Facility You can also find more
details about this project by visiting the GENUKI page at: Devon 1891 Census Project |
| 1901 |
31st March 1901 |
Online |
The 1901 Census for the whole of England and Wales
has been scanned and indexed by the Public Record Office and is
available online at: 1901
Census of England and Wales
The indexes are free to search, but bear in mind that you will need
to search for variations in the spellings of surnames. You will need to pay to actually
view the scans of the census or the transcriptions of pages. Some Tips
for Searching 1901 Census are provided by Bryan Wetton.
View some Transcriptions of Devon
1901 Census |
Back to Devon Index
Use of Census Material
The first censuses in England and Wales were taken in 1801 and have been taken every 10 years
since then, except in 1941, during World War II. Unfortunately, few of the very early censuses
survive and even where they do, they hold very little information of use to us
researching our family history. However, those from 1841 to 1901 are
able to provide us with a wealth of information.
Key information they give us:
- Names and Surnames
- Marital Status
Married (M) or Unmarried (U), Widow or Widower (W)
- Relationship to head of household
- Age of individual
- Place of Birth for individual
- Occupation
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Possible Errors
Benjamin
Disraeli (1804-1881), British Conservative Statesman and Prime Minister
(1868 and 1874-1878) made famous the saying: "There are lies, damned lies
and statistics." With the censuses being population
statistics, this saying rings particularly true for census material and the
statistical data is frequently full of flaws.
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Names and Surnames
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Although names and surnames given, you would think are more likely to
be accurate, people didn't always use their "proper" name and
may have preferred to have been known by an alias name. Middle
names were commonly used instead of a first name, particularly when
their was another member of the family with the same name, so bear this
in mind when searching. |
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Marital Status
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People may have been recorded incorrectly as unmarried, particularly
in the case of visitors and lodgers who are not recorded with their
spouse. The incidence of a different surname particularly for
daughters with their parents may give the game away. |
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Relationship to Head of Household
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Generally children should have been listed correctly with their
families, even with step-children. But step-children may be listed
incorrectly as a son or daughter. A difference in surname
might indicate this - but sometimes illegitimate children later took
their "step-fathers" surname, so this is not always
apparent..
Visitors or lodgers can be the most problematic - perhaps correct
that they were indeed visiting or lodging, but they might have been
other family members not shown in the relationships given. |
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Age
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It was not uncommon for people to lie about their age for whatever
reason, thus comparisons between more than one
census and we find that some people did not "age" the expected number
of years. So don't be fooled by ages being out a couple of years. |
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Place of Birth
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Birthplace information is often inaccurate. This may have been
due to the person who gave the information to the enumerator, e.g.
families with servants working for them may have provided the
information. In the case of smaller villages, the nearest larger
town or village might have been given as a birthplace - this is often
the case when people were not living in the area in which they were
born. The further they were from their birthplace, the more likely
the information is inaccurate, so one should bear this in mind. |
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