Data Source
The original data is in the custody of the National Archives in the UK. The enumerator books have been filmed and can be found in some local archives, libraries and Family History Centres. Dependent on the area of interest, there are some surname indexes available and I would recommend you contact the Family History Society for the county of interest. Ancestry.com have a copy of the 1861 census for all of England available on-line. It is indexed and you can view copies of the enumerator pages.
 

Data Reference :  TNA(PRO) RG9 /498
TNA is The National Archives which was previously known as the Public Records Office (PRO). RG9 is the reference for the 1861 census while 498 is the piece which includes Staplehurst. The Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone holds a copy of the data under reference CKS 1861.

Census Date:   08 April 1861.

 

Quality of Data
I have transcribed this data from a copy of the film held at the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone. Like all transcriptions, there will be errors which I will apologize for in advance although the use of this data is at your own risk. If you do find errors in the transcription, please notify me and I will correct. You will find my contact information from the home page.

Some pages are difficult to read due to fading of the writing. Other pages are difficult to read due to the quality of the original writing. I have done the best I can.

You need to also note that the spelling of names is transcribed as written and this may well differ to what you expect.
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Regional Description
County of Kent
Superintendent Register’s District: Maidstone
Registrar’s Sub District: Marden
Ecclesiastical Parish: Staplehurst
Number of Enumeration Districts 6, 7, 8.
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District
The first column headed contains the District. Staplehurst was divided into 3 enumeration districts (6, 7, and 8) for this census. The description of the districts is copied from the census book as follows.

District 6 - The whole of the village of Staplehurst including the Rectory, the Cottages, Bly Court, Loddenden,  Butchers Farm, and the Windmill Cottages.

Enumerator: Edward Field
Registrar:  Nathaniel Walter Junior

District 7 – All that part of the Parish of Staplehurst comprising all the houses and cottages on the  West side of the turnpike road leading from Maidstone to Cranbrook, except the village, including Great Pagehurst, Little Pagehurst, Little Doorn, Great Doorn, Brick Kiln Farm, Staplehurst Plain, Little Hartsheath, Great Hartsheath, Boundsend, Knoxbridge Cottage (West), Toll House, Fuller House, Staplehurst Quarter (West), Chapel Cottages, Bigg Barn Cottages, Cuckolds Corner, Railway Station and Cottages, Wards Cottage (otherwise Knowles Hill Cottages), and Hartleys. (A note in the margin added states: Note, Boundsend House is in the Parish of Cranbrook).

Enumerator: William Taylor
Registrar: Nathaniel Walter Junior

District 8 – Part of the Parish of Staplehurst, comprising all the houses and cottages on the East Side of the Turnpike Road leading from Maidstone to Cranbrook (except the village) including Lowdwells farm, Cross at Hand Cottages, Couchma Green Cottages, Newstead farm, Slaney Place, Milking Pail farm, Carley’s farm, Chickenden, Thorps farm, Exhurst, Craddocks Cottage, Maplehurst, Old House farm, Great and Little Wadd, Knoxbridge, Knoxbridge Cottages (East), Iden, Staplehurst Place, Staplehurst Quarter (East) and Pinnock House, Commercial Hotel, and Cottages (East).

Enumerator: Richard Samson
Registrar: Nathaniel Walter Junior

There is an excellent map on the  Old Maps  web site dating from 1873 which clearly shows many of the larger farms.
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Folio
The second column holds the folio number as defined by the TNA with the addition of the character ‘a’ or ‘b’ with ‘a’ being the left hand page and ‘b’ being the right’. This forms part of the reference number for the data.

Household
In the column marked ‘HH’, the enumerator recorded a number against each household. For each district the number restarts at 1.

When considering the number of households, it should be noted that the enumerators used different methods. In district 6, a lodger was included within the household number of the family he was living with while in district 7, each lodger was given a new household number. If classed as a boarder, they are included in the household. I am not sure what the difference between a boarder and a lodger.

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Address
The address column includes the address as recorded by the enumerator. Many of the houses in the village are just recorded as High Street but most of the farms and bigger houses are identified.

Names
The first name and surname are included in separate columns. These can be difficult to read at times and when in doubt, I have indicated so with a ‘?’. Spelling is transcribed as written in the original.

Relationship
The relationship column records an individual’s relationship to the Head of the household.

Marital Status
In this column is recorded for all adults their marital status. The abbreviations used are:  W = married, U = unmarried, W = widow or widower.

Ages
Ages are in 2 columns, M for male and F for female. The enumerator recorded the actual age of the person in years except those children under 1 and then it includes the number of months (m), weeks (w), and a couple of times days (d).
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Occupations
The occupations are recorded. The term Ag. Lab. stands for Agricultural Labourer and covers many trades in farming. In some cases, the data has been modified when the enumerator was summarising the data. Generally it is domestic added to servant or similar these changes are noted in brackets. For farmers there is generally included the number of acres which I have abbreviated to 'a' and the number employed which again has been abbreviated to 'emp'.

Where Born
The persons place of birth is generally given as parish and county. I have split these into 2 columns for ease of analysis.
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