Search 1851 census records
Digitised 1851 census records are held at a number of subscription sites including: FindMyPast.co.uk and Ancestry.co.uk.
Digitised 1851 census records for Scotland can be accessed on a pay per view basis at ScotlandsPeople.
Digitised 1851 census records for Ireland (fragments only) can be accessed without charge at National Archives of Ireland. Please note that very few 1851 Ireland census records survive.
The 1851 Census – held on Sunday 30 march 1851
1851 census records were, as usual, a combination of the census records of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The censuses of Great Britain (i.e. England and Wales, and Scotland) were virtually identical, whilst the 1851 census of Ireland was more comprehensive. Unfortunately, almost all the 1851 Ireland census records were destroyed.
Please visit our Ireland census records page for more information on where to search for surviving Ireland census records. The Censuses of England, Wales and Ireland are the main focus of the rest of this article.
The householder’s schedule
The ‘Householder’s Schedule’[1] instructed every ‘occupier or Person in charge of the House’ to enter the personal details of every person who stayed (‘slept or abode’) in the house on census night (30 March). No one absent on census night was to be entered.
1851 Census Questions
New questions in bold.
Instructions accompanying the census schedule in italics.
- Full name.
- Relation to head of family.
- Marriage status (“except Young Children”).
- Age.
- Male or female.
- “Rank, Profession or Occupation”. If several, list by importance. If retired: enter “Retired” followed by former occupation (e.g. “Retired Watchmaker”). Details of almspeople i.e. in receipt of charity [such as the unemployed] also required.
- “Where Born”. County and town/parish or, if born in another country, state country only.
If British and born outside the British Empire (“in Foreign Parts”): add “British Subject” . - If “Deaf-and-Dumb” or “Blind”.
Shortly before census night, the enumerator distributed the schedule to every householder within the enumerator’s area (‘enumeration district’).The enumerator collected the schedule on the day after census day (i.e. 31 March 1851). A fixed fine of £5 (plus a conviction) was imposed for non-compliance, although enumerators assisted any householders who struggled with writing.
There were a number of new questions. ‘Relation to Head of Family’ asked for each person’s relationship to the householder e.g. whether wife, son, daughter, relative, visitor, or servant. Other new questions were for marital status and for disability (limited to whether an individual was blind/deaf/unable to speak).
Some existing questions were expanded and the accompanying instructions clarified. The age question was no longer rounded down (for adults), and the ‘where born’ question ditched the Yes/No structure and asked whether any individual born outside the British Empire was a British Subject.
Occupation
The ‘General Instruction’[1] accompanying the ‘rank, profession, or occupation’ question was revised extensively. Whereas the 1841 census had been silent on multiple occupations, the 1851 census instructions stated that an individual ‘may insert his occupations in the order of their importance’.
Individuals who had retired from their business were to prefix ‘retired’ to their previous occupation e.g. ‘Retired Watchmaker’.
Although unemployment status was not yet specifically addressed, the question was implied by the following Instruction: ‘Almspeople, and persons in the receipt of parish relief should, after being described as such, have their previous occupation inserted’
.
The employer status of tradespeople was also clarified. The instructions accompanying the 1841 census schedule had made the assumption that everyone engaged in a trade was a ‘master’ unless ‘journeyman’ or ‘apprentice’ was specified in their trade description. In contrast, the 1851 census instructions stated that ‘In trades the Master is to be distinguished from the Journeyman’ and ‘Apprentice’. The number employed was also to be entered and the following example given: ‘Carpenter – (Master employing [6] men)’.
In a similar vein, the description of ‘Farmer’ was to be reserved for occupiers of land and the number of acres and employees was required. An example was again given: ‘Farmer of [317] acres employing [12] labourers’. Farmers’ children who worked either on the farm or in the house were to be described as ‘Farmer’s son’ or ‘Farmer’s daughter’.
‘Census Enumerators’ Books’
Once the schedules were collected, the enumerator copied their contents into a ‘Census Enumerator’s Book (CEB). Once copied, the original schedules were destroyed leaving only the CEB as a census record. Unfortunately, the pre-printed CEB often summarised the original census questions and this can be confusing for family researchers. For example, the ‘where born’ question in the CEB does not contain the full question printed in the original schedule relating to British subjects.
Administration for collecting 1851 census records
The General Register Office for England and Wales (GRO) controlled both the census of England and Wales, and the census of Scotland (as the General Register Office for Scotland had not yet been established).
In England and Wales, the enumerator reported to the local Registrar of Births and Deaths who, in turn, reported to the Superintendent Registrar. Scotland, lacking its own GRO, continued to employ its pre-1841 census officials; enumerators reported to the parish ‘schoolmaster’ who, in turn, reported to the Sheriff Depute, Provost, or other Chief Magistrate.
In England and Wales, the enumeration districts were, for the first time, subdivisions of the registration districts overseen by the local Registrar. In Scotland, enumeration districts were based on parish boundaries.
The final destination of every CEB throughout Great Britain was the GRO in London. 1851 Scotland census records were eventually transferred to Edinburgh in 1910.
Voluntary Censuses on Religious Worship and Education
A unique feature of the 1851 Census was the two voluntary Censuses on religious worship and education, resulting in two separate Census reports: the Census of Great Britain, 1851: Religious Worship in England and Wales and the Census of Great Britain, 1851: Education. England and Wales.
Participation was voluntary and very patchy in Scotland. They were not popular and ditched for the 1861 census.
The questions relating to religion and education were not directed at the householder but at the schools and places of worship. However, they can be useful to family historians; if you cannot locate any details at the established parish church that was local to your ancestor(s), use the ‘religious census’ to locate alternative places of worship that your ancestors may have attended.
Population Recorded
Whilst the population for the whole of the UK grew by a modest 2.5%, this masked the catastrophic collapse in the population of Ireland; down by almost 20%:
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. |
||
England | 16,921,972 | 12.8% |
Wales | 1,005,637 | 10.3% |
Scotland | 2,888,742 | 10.2% |
Ireland | 6,574,278 | -19.8% |
UK population | 27,390,629 | 2.5% |
Islands of the British Seas | 143,126 | 15.4% |
The Great Exhibition: 1 May 1851 – 15 October 1851
The Census 1851 Report acknowledged that there were approx 2m visitors to the Great Exhibition (and over 6m visits). Despite these figures, the Census Report observed that, in the first three months of 1851, there was no material increase in people from abroad compared to the first three months in 1850.
Victorian Britain at the time of the March 1851 Census
Prime Minister
Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1846 to 1852)
Government of the day
The Whigs.
Foreign Secretary
Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston (1846 to 1851)
Replaced by George Leveson Gower, Earl Granville in December (1851 to 1852)
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Sir Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax (1846 to 1852)
Historical Snapshot – Victorian Britain in the decade up to the 1851 Census
Domestic Affairs
The Potato Famine – 1845 – 1852
Also known as The Great Famine or the Great Hunger. The failure of the potato crop, upon which the peasants of Ireland were so heavily and fatally dependent, was the most significant domestic event of the period. It resulted in the death of an estimated one million people, either by starvation or disease, and caused a similar number to emigrate, mainly to England or North America. By the time the famine had ended, it is estimated that a quarter of the population of Liverpool was Irish – a demographic trend that was replicated in many cities in North America. If you have Irish ancestry which dates back to the Victorian period, it is highly likely that your ancestors left Ireland during this period as a result of the Potato Famine.
“The Sketch of a Woman and Children represents Bridget O’Donnel. Her story is briefly this:– ‘. . .we were put out last November; we owed some rent. I was at this time lying in fever. . . they commenced knocking down the house, and had half of it knocked down when two neighbours, women, Nell Spellesley and Kate How, carried me out. . . I was carried into a cabin, and lay there for eight days, when I had the creature (the child) born dead. I lay for three weeks after that. The whole of my family got the fever, and one boy thirteen years old died with want and with hunger while we were lying sick.” By Illustrated London News, December 22, 1849
Income Tax ‘temporarily’ introduced in 1842
Within a year of becoming Prime Minister, Peel had introduced one of the most ground-breaking budgets of the century. Significant strides were made towards free trade but, on the downside, income tax was ‘temporarily’ reintroduced. This was the first time income tax had been introduced during peacetime.
1843 – The assassination attempt of Sir Robert and rules for ‘criminal insanity’ established
A failed attempt to assassinate Peel resulted in the House of Lords developing the first legal test for criminal insanity – known as the ‘M’Naghten Rules‘. Daniel M’Naghten, an insane Scottish woodsman, was acquitted on grounds of criminal insanity despite Peel’s Personal Secretary being accidentally killed in the assassination attempt.
The pursuit of Social reform
Lord Ashley (later named Lord Shaftesbury), together with the reformer John Fielden, continued to battle for social reform and the elusive ‘ten hour working day’.
- The Mines and Collieries Act (1842) had banned all women and boys under ten years old from working in the mines. Lord Ashley had successfully appealed to Victorian morality; women had to work bare breasted and wear trousers in the mines which “made girls unsuitable for marriage and unfit to be mothers”.
- The Factories Act (1844) is now regarded as the first ‘Health and Safety’ Act because it actually addressed the need to fence off dangerous machinery. It also reduced the working day to 12 hours for women and young people (6.5 hours if they were under 13 years old – although they had to attend 3 hours schooling with all that free time!)
- The Factories Act (1847) fleetingly introduced the ten hour working day but, following the exploitation of a loophole, it was finally pegged at ten and a half in the Factories Act of 1850.
The Free Trade Revolution – 1840s
The suffering caused by the Potato Famine bolstered support for the anti-Corn Law movement, the proponents of which argued that import duties on grain kept food prices high and disproportionately affected the poor. The Corn Laws were eventually repealed by the Importation Act of 1846 but they dragged down the Conservative Government and ended Robert Peel’s career.
By the 1840s, the battle for unilateral free trade against the forces of protectionism had been largely won in Britain. On the continent, a more violent storm was brewing…
Foreign Affairs
In 1842, Britain had successfully concluded the first ‘Opium War’. The Chinese had to cede Hong Kong and pay reparations to the British. The Chinese also had to agree a ‘fair and reasonable’ tariff.
In the same year, Britain very unsuccessfully concluded the Anglo-Afghan War. The result was a disastrous defeat and the annihilation of the British and Indian army.
In 1843, freed from the wars with China and Afghanistan, Britain proceeded to annex both the Sind (now part of Pakistan) and the Natal (now part of South Africa). Referring to the annexation of Sind (or Sindh), Sir Charles Napier from the British East India Company wrote in his diary; “We have no right to seize Sind, but we shall do so, and a very advantageous, useful, humane piece of rascality it will be”.
The people’s spring – ‘the Revolutions of 1848’
Whilst Britain was having its quiet economic revolution, the continent was having its ‘People’s Spring’ (aka the ‘Revolutions of 1848’) – a series of revolts in over 50 countries which led, amongst other things, to the overthrow of the French monarchy (again) and the foundation of the second French republic. 1848 also saw the first publication of the Communist Manifesto by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Related Pages
Sources
[1]General Instruction, Householder’s Schedule, Census of England and Wales, 1851. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.
Please see Census Records page for sources relating to population numbers.
Census of Great Britain, 1851, Population tables, I. Number of the inhabitants in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851. Vol. I BPP 1852-53 LXXXV (1631) p.xxiv
Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report including tables of the population enumerated in England and Wales (administrative and parliamentary areas) and in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands on 19-20th June 1921 BPP 1921 XVI [Cmd.1485] p.62 & 63.
Further reading:
Great Britain: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys General Register Office (1977) Guide to Census Reports: Great Britain 1801-1966 ISBN: 0116906383. PART 2 Significant developments in the scope and organisation of the census.