The 1841 census – ‘the first modern census’ taken on 6 June 1841

The 1841 census of the UK was made up of three separate censuses which were all held on the same day; the census of England and Wales (treated as one country), the census of Scotland, and the census of Ireland. The censuses of England and Wales, and of Scotland were both governed by the Census Act 1840 and are often regarded as ‘the Census of Great Britain’.

1841 census records are the first census records to hold personal details of all inhabitants of Great Britain. Earlier censuses of Great Britain were largely a head count and of little use to family historians. Hence, the 1841 census is often described as ‘the first modern census’.

Ireland census returns had recorded at least some personal details since 1821. However, very few 1841 census records for Ireland have survived; indeed, barely any 19th Century Ireland census records are available. Please visit our Ireland census records page for more information regarding the census of Ireland.

The rest of this article mainly focuses on the ‘Census of Great Britain’ (i.e. England, Wales and Scotland).

The householder’s schedule

The Householder’s Schedule (i.e. census form) instructed every occupier (‘householder’) to enter the personal details of every person who stayed (‘abode or slept’) in the house on census night.

The householder’s schedule also asked the householder to enter his/her full household address (although 1841 census records rarely hold full addresses for reasons discussed below).

In the week before census day, the enumerator (census taker) distributed the householder’s schedule to every householder within the ‘enumeration district’. The enumerator would later collect the completed schedule on 7th June (i.e. the day after census day). Householders faced fines for non-cooperation, ranging from 40 shillings to 5 pounds, although enumerators were ready to give any assistance to the householder if needed.

Officials in charge of public institutions such as barracks, prisons, workhouses and hospitals were responsible for recording each resident on the night of 6th June 1841.

Enumerator’s Schedule

Once the householder’s schedules had been collected, the enumerator copied their details into his own enumerator’s schedule. Sadly, the original schedules were destroyed, so the 1841 census records we view today are copies of the enumerator’s schedules rather than the original householder’s schedules. This means that we do not have access to our ancestor’s original handwriting, and we have to be mindful of possible transcript errors. Also, the enumerator was only required to enter the householder’s ‘Village, Street, Square, Close, Court etc.’, so the full address provided by the householder has usually been lost.

Directions to the enumerator

The enumerator was given a list of detailed instructions on how to complete the enumerator’s schedule. Age (unless under 15 years) was rounded down in 5 year intervals. With regard to the occupation question, employers engaged in a trade did not need to be specifically identified as an employer (‘master’) because ‘everyone will be so considered who is not entered as journeyman or apprentice’. Unlike later censuses, No guidance was given for those with more than one occupation.

In earlier censuses, the enumerators recorded occupation numbers from a list of limited occupations. Now, they were to record the actual occupation of each individual, and various occupation abbreviations were introduced to aid census collection. For a full list of ‘occupation’ abbreviations, please visit census abbreviations.

The most frequently recorded occupation was domestic servant. (The least recorded occupation was ice dealer – of which there were five). The following groups of people were not recorded as having any occupation or profession: wives, sons or daughters living with and assisting with their husbands/parents but not apprenticed/salaried.

Where born

The ‘Where Born’ question was split into two columns (neither of which collected concrete information on where an individual was actually born). The Directions gave more information on how to complete these columns, but were not particularly helpful.

The first column of the Householder’s Schedule asked the question ‘Whether Born in the County’. (The wording of the Enumerator’s schedule into which the enumerator copied the answers was slightly different: ‘Whether Born in Same County’). The Directions stipulated a ‘Y’ or ‘N’ entry but did not specify the criteria for ‘same county’ (as what?). However, the intention was to establish whether an individual was currently living in the county of birth.

The England and Wales census Directions excluded ‘Irish, Scotch, or Foreigners’ from the first column; the Scotland census was identical but swapped ‘Scotch’ for English (with England and Wales treated as one country). This focus on nationality (‘Irish’, ‘Scotch’ etc.) rather than place of birth is confusing. However, the Directions to the second column (which were designed to dovetail with the first column – see below) clarified that the first column was not applicable to those born in another country of the UK and/or foreign nationals; they were to be added to the second column.

The second column asked ‘Whether Born in Scotland, Ireland, or Foreign Parts’ (the Scotland census swapped Scotland for England). The Directions instructed entry as follows; “S” if born in Scotland, (the Scotland census swapping “S” with “E” for England), “I” for Ireland, and “F” for ‘Foreigners’. The Directions made clear that only foreign nationals were entered ‘F’ and ‘not for British subjects who happen to have been born abroad’. This meant that British subjects who were born in ‘Foreign Parts’ were not entered ‘F’ in the second column (as might be expected); instead, they were entered ‘N’ in the first column, so we cannot identify those British subjects who were born abroad.

As we can see, it would have been far more straight forward to have asked simply for place of birth – and it is not surprising that the clumsy wording of the ‘Where Born’ question did make a reappearance in the 1851 census.

The General Register Office (GRO)

Pre-1841 censuses in Great Britain were controlled by the Home Office. They were purely a head count and did not (officially) record any personal details, making pre-1841 census records of limited use to family historians.

In England and Wales, census duties were, pre-1841, split between Overseers of the Poor and the Clergy, whilst in Scotland, these duties were undertaken by the parish ‘schoolmaster’. These census takers were unpaid and did not work to any deadline, so people were often missed or counted twice.

For the 1841 census, overall control of the the census passed to the newly formed (in 1837) General Register Office for England and Wales, with GRO officials assigned to census duties. Enumerators (census takers) were paid government officials selected by the local Registrar of Births and Deaths to whom they sent the census schedules. The Registrar, having checked all these schedules, forwarded them to the Superintendent-Registrar for further checking. The Registrar-General for England and Wales was in overall control and the census records were stored at the GRO in London.

The enumeration district (ED)

To avoid people being missed or double counted, all householder’s schedules had to be collected in one day (i.e. 7th June). To achieve this, each enumerator was assigned an enumeration district that was small enough for an ‘active man’ to cover in a day; an area that usually covered 25 – 200 houses. These enumeration districts were normally divisions of ‘hundreds’ or ‘wapentakes’ (divisions of counties). Census day was held in June to maximise daylight hours.

Scotland

As a General Register Office for Scotland was not established until 1855, the GRO in London also controlled the census in Scotland. The administration in Scotland differed slightly to that adopted south of the border. The enumeration districts were based on parishes (or their subdivisions) and Many of the ‘old’ census officials remained in post.

Enumerators were employed by the parish ‘schoolmaster’ whose role was closely aligned with that of the local Registrar in England and Wales. The schoolmaster usually reported to the sheriff depute or, if in a burgh, the provost or other chief magistrate. Their role roughly mirrored the Superintendent-Registrar in England and Wales.

The census records for Scotland were sent to the GRO in London where they remained until 1910.

Population Recorded

The population grew in all four nations of the UK. This would be the last time, whilst part of the UK, that Ireland recorded a population increase.

1841 Census Records – Population recorded

Country	Population	†Change(%)
†Change(%) since last census. Source: Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report. Please visit Census Records for population in other census years.
Travellers: 5,016 people were recorded as ‘travelling on the night of the 6th of June 1841’. (Householders were not yet responsible for travelling family members who returned the day after census night.)
England	15,002,250	14.6%
Wales	911,898	13.1%
Scotland	2,620,184	10.8%
Ireland	8,196,597	5.5%
UK population	26,730,929	11.2%
Islands of the British Seas	124,040	19.6%

Victorian Britain at the time of the June 1841 Census

Prime Minister

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1835 to 1841).
Replaced by Sir Robert Peel in August (1841 – 1846).

Government of the day

The Whigs under Viscount Melbourne.
Replaced by the Conservatives in September.

Foreign Secretary

Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston (1835 to 1841)
Replaced by George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen in September (1841 to 1846)

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Francis Baring (1839 to 1841)
Replaced by Henry Goulburn in September (1841 to 1846).

Historical Snapshot – Victorian Britain in the decade up to the 1841 Census

Domestic Affairs

The misery of the workhouses

Working conditions in Victorian Britain were unbelievably harsh and the authorities made sure that being out of work was even worse. By the 1830s, poor relief payments (which were first introduced in Elizabethan times) had reached around £7m – a huge sum in those days. In an attempt to reduce these payments, the Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) ended ‘outdoor relief’; able bodied people were no longer entitled to poor relief unless they were willing to enter the workhouse.

To act as a disincentive to entry, the Poor Law Commission recommended that these workhouses be less attractive than ‘the situation of the independent labourer of the lowest class’. In 1830s Britain, this was a tall order but the institutions made a decent attempt at meeting their obligations: husbands and wives were separated (to prevent them having more children), children were often separated from their parents, visitors forbidden (unless supervised) and inmates were rarely allowed outside (unless they discharged themselves, at the risk of starvation). For good reason they were nicknamed ‘Bastilles’.

The miseries of the workhouse were soon brought vividly to the public’s attention in Charles Dickens’ novel; Oliver Twist (serialised in 1837 and published as a book in 1838).

Faltering steps towards social reform

By the 1841 Census there was a growing awareness of the need for social reform, vigorously pursued by such figures as the evangelical Christian Lord Ashley (later known as Lord Shaftesbury). There were many catalysts, including the the horrors of the workhouses and the anti-slavery movement. Two reforming acts of the 1830s illustrate just how grim working conditions in Victorian Britain were for the working classes:

• The Factories Act (1833). The ‘Ten Hour Movement’ led by Lord Ashley was a campaign to reduce the working day to ten hours (initially just for women and children). The Factories Act was a modest step in that direction.
• Applicable to most textile factories, this act banned the employment of children less than 9 years old. Those aged 9–13 years could ‘only’ work 9 hours a day and were to receive a compulsory 2 hours of education (if they could keep their eyes open!). Those aged 13-18 years could ‘only’ work 12 hours a day. No children were to work at night. Four factory inspectors (for the whole country) were appointed so that the law would actually be enforced.
• Although campaigners were unhappy with aspects of the act, it actually represented a significant improvement to the working conditions of children.
• ‘The Climbing Boys Act’ (1840). Lord Ashley was again the prime mover in the ‘Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act’ which banned children less than 16 years old from being employed as apprentice chimney sweeps and banned anyone less than 21 years old from climbing chimneys.
• The act was largely ignored; boys as young as six were still employed to ‘carry the brushes’ because housewives felt that small boys made less mess.

The first grant of public money for education

The first state education grant was approved by Parliament in 1833: £20,000 (increasing to £30,000 in 1839). To put this amount into context, the grant for the royal stables in 1833 was £50,000. Nevertheless, it was a significant first step towards state education.

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (w.e.f. 1834)

Whilst the Slave Trade Act of 1807 had only outlawed the slave trade, this act abolished slavery altogether throughout most of the British Empire. This was the final triumph of anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian who had devoted his life to campaigning against the slave trade. He lived just long enough to witness the fruits of his labour – he died three days after the passing of this act.

The agitation for political reform

This period saw an agitation for political rights amongst the population at large. The Reform Act of 1832 had extended the vote to the middle classes and, in 1838, the newly formed Chartist Movement published the ‘Peoples’ Charter’ which demanded the vote for every man over 21 years of age and secret ballots. However, they failed to win any support in Parliament. A year later, 5,000 armed Chartists marched on Newport, Wales in what came to be called the ‘Newport Rising’. This was the last large-scale armed rebellion in Britain and resulted in 22 men losing their lives when troops opened fire on them. In the 1841 General Election, only 3.7% of the population voted.

Queen Victoria becomes Queen and gets married

For Queen Victoria, the decade preceding the 1841 census was to be her most eventful and certainly her happiest.

• 20 June 1837. Alexandrina Victoria became Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She succeeded her uncle, William IV whose only legitimate child (Princess Charlotte) had predeceased him.
• May 1839. The Bedchamber Crisis. The first crisis of Queen Victoria’s reign occurred when she resisted the demands of Sir Robert Peel (Conservative) that she dismiss her ladies in waiting (who were Whigs).
• 10 February 1840. She married her first cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg at St James’s Palace. (Albert was later given the title ‘Prince Albert’).
• 10 June 1840. She fell victim to the first of seven assassination attempts that occurred throughout her reign. (Surprisingly, not one of her would be assassins were executed.)

Foreign Affairs

At the time of the 1841 Census, Britain was involved in two wars.

• The First Opium War against China (1839 – 1842) broke out when Britain, objecting to China banning opium from India (which Palmerston considered protectionism), bombarded Canton.
• The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 – 1842) broke out when Governor-General of India Lord Auckland, fearful of Russian influence, attempted to replace the Amir of Afghanistan – with disastrous consequences.