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 Kent Family History Society has various indexes available, but as far as I am aware they do not have an index for the Staplehurst 1891 Census. Ancestry.com have a copy of the 1891 census for all of England available on-line. It is indexed and you can view copies of the enumerator pages.
 

Data Reference :  TNA(PRO) RG12 /684
TNA is The National Archives which was previously known as the Public Records Office (PRO). RG12 is the reference for the 1891 census while 684 is the piece which includes Staplehurst. The Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone holds a copy of the data under reference CKS 1891 - 29.

Census Date:   05 April 1891.

 

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 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: Yalding
Rural Sanitary District: Maidstone
Parliamentary Borough: Ashford
Ecclesiastical Parish: Staplehurst
Number of Enumeration Districts 11, 12, 13.
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District
The first column headed with the character ‘A’ contains the District. Staplehurst was divided into 3 enumeration districts (11, 12, and 13) for this census. The description of the districts is copied from the census book as follows.

District 11 - Being that part bounded on the North by the Board Schools and North & South Villas inclusive. On the East by a circle described from the Board Schools to the Rectory. On the South by the Rectory and Fullers House inclusive. On the West by a described circle from Fuller House to North & South Villas inclusive.
Contents: The whole of the Village of Staplehurst including the Rectory, the Cottage Bly Court, Mr Butcher's Farm from Windmill Cottages, Cottages in Bell Lane, Loddenden, Board Schools, North & South Villas, Fuller House and Staplehurst Quarter.

District 12 – Being that Part Bounded on the North by the Parishes of Sutton and Boughton, on the East by the turnpike road from Maidstone to Cranbrook, on the South by the Parish of Cranbrook, in the West by the Parish of Marden.
Contents: 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 Heartsheath, Great Heartsheath, Bowns End, Knoxbridge Cottage, West Soll House, Cuckold’s Corner, Railway Station and Cottages, Wards Cottages, Hartleys, and Waghorns Cottages. The whole in the Parliamentary Division of Ashford.
Also Wards Cottages, Ashurst Cottages, Aydhurst Farm, Thompson Farm, Chickenhurst, Buckwood (new), New Town (new), Rabbitt Farm, Bletchingly Cattages, Clark Farm, Brattle Farm, all far in fields from the highway.

District 13 – Being that part Bounded on the North by the Parish of Sutton, on the East by the Parishes of Headcorn & Frittenden, on the South by the Parish of Cranbrook, on the West by the Turnpike road leading from Maidstone to Cranbrook.
Contents: 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 in Hand Cottages, Newstead Farm, Chickenden, Thorp Farm, Slaney Place, Milking Pail Farm, Curley Farm, Exhurst, Craddwells Cottage, Maplehurst, Old House Farm, Great and Little Wadd, East Iden, Staplehurst House, and all lodges, Knowbridge, Knowbridge 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 ‘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 ‘B’, 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.

Number of Rooms
In the column headed with ‘C’, the enumerator recorded the number of rooms occupied if less than five.
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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.

Condition as to Marriage
In this column is recorded for all adults their marital status. The abbreviations used are: s = single, m = married, 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 (mths).
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Occupations
The occupations are recorded. The term ‘Agricultural Labourer’ cover many trades in farming. In some cases, the data has been modified for summary purposes and these modifications have been included with ( ).

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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