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. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints produced a transcription of the 1881
census for England and it is available on their website and in many
local archives.
Data Reference :
TNA(PRO)
RG11 /925
TNA is The National Archives which was
previously known as the Public Records Office (PRO). RG11 is the
reference for the 1881 census while 925 is the piece which includes Staplehurst.
Census Date:
03 April 1881.
Quality of Data
I have transcribed this data from a copy of the film.
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
extremely 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
Registration District: Maidstone
Registration Sub-District: Marden
Ecclesiastical Parish: Staplehurst
Number of Enumeration Districts 6, 7, 8.
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District
The first column 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
Enumerator: Mr. Alfred Taylor
The whole of the village
of Staplehurst including The Rectory, The Cottages, Bly Court to
Plank Field Cottage, Mr. Butcher’s Farm, cottages in Bell Lane,
Loddenden, Board Schools, North & South Villas, Fuller House and
Staplehurst Quarter.
District 7
Enumerator: Mr. William Oliver
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 Dourn,
Great Dourn, Brick Kiln Farm, Staplehurst Plain, Little Hartsheath,
Great Hartsheath, Bowns End, Knoxbridge Cottage, West Toll House,
Cuckold’s Corner, Railway Station Cottages, Wards Cottages, Hartleys
and Waghornes Cottages.
District 8
Enumerator: Mr. Frederick Watson
Part of the Parish of Staplehurst comprising all the houses and cottages on the Eastside
of the Turnpike road leading from Maidstone to Cranbrook (except the
village) including Lowdwells Farm, Cross at Hand Cottages, Newsted
Farm, Chickenden, Slaney Place, Milking Pail Farm, Turleys Farm,
Exhurst, Cradocks Cottage, Maplehurst, Old House Cottages, Great &
Little Wadd, East Iden, Staplehurst House, all Lodges, Knoxbridge,
Knoxbridge Cottages, South Eastern Hotel and Cottages.
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 followed by a page number. 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.
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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.
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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. 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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