United Kingdom Census 1841 - Administration of The Census

Administration of The Census

The Population Act 1840 gave the Registrar General the responsibility for the census for England and Wales in addition to his responsibility for Civil Registration. Earlier censuses had been administered by the Overseers of the Poor but the Civil Registration system provided the local administration which could also take on the job of the census.

One of the intentions was to avoid omissions and double counting by taking the census at the same time across the whole country and collecting the data as quickly as possible. The Civil Registration Districts were therefore subdivided into enumeration districts which were intended to be of a size where one person could collect the data from all households in a single day. Some 35,000 census enumerators were appointed to undertake the data collection, one enumerator per district.

Forms were delivered to every household a few days before the day of the census. These were to be completed by the householder and collected by the enumerator on 7 June, the day after the census. The enumerator would help in the completion of the form if, for example, the householder was illiterate.

The 1841 census recorded people's names, age, sex, occupation, and if they were born "in county". Children under 15 were to have their age recorded accurately, while those over 15 were to be rounded down to the nearest 5 years so, for example, someone aged 63 should be recorded as aged 60. However, not all enumerators followed this instruction and exact ages may have been recorded.