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What
is it?
The Census
is basically a headcount of everyone living in the country on a particular
night. The first census in England and Wales was taken in 1801 and there
has been one every 10 years since (apart from in 1941 when British involvement
in the Second World War prevented it taking place). Between 1801 and 1831
only general information was collected but from 1841 details about each
person were recorded. This makes the Census a wonderful source of information
for historians.
What
can it tell us?
Each time
the Census is taken, slightly different questions are asked. This is because
the government needs to find out information to help it plan and provide
better services. However, the following information can be gleaned from
all post-1851 censuses:
- name of
every person resident in a particular house or other institution on
Census night
- address
- age
- relation
to head of household
- occupation
- place
of birth
A student
from Fyndoune Community Collge using census material. (Image courtesy
of Durham County Record Office.)
The
Census returns for Crook
We have extracted
some information from the Census returns of 1851
and 1901 for Crook, which
will help you discover how and why Crook and Willington developed in the
latter half of the nineteenth century. Take a look at the sources and
see what you can find out.
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Examples
of pages taken from the 1851 Census. The information relates to an area
of Crook. (Image courtesy of The National Archives, ref. HO 107/2386.)
Where
can I see it?
The information
collected on the Census is obviously personal in nature and, as a result,
the returns themselves can only be seen 100 years after the Census was
taken. This means that only material from the Censuses between 1841 and
1901 is currently available.
The national
set of census returns for England, Wales and the Channel Islands are held
at the Family
Records Centre in Islington, London. However, the returns for the
Censuses between 1871 and 1901 can also be seen online via the National
Archives website (this is a charged service).
Many local
record offices and libraries hold copies of the Census returns for their
own area, which have often been indexed by local history and family history
societies. The Census returns for County Durham are held by Durham
County Record Office.
 
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