United Kingdom census, 1841

Last updated May 15, 2019

The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every United Kingdom household on the night of 6 June 1841.^[1] The enactment of the Population Act 1840 meant a new procedure was adopted for taking the 1841 census. It was described as the "first modern census" as it was the first to record information about every member of the household, and administered as a single event, under central control, rather than being devolved to a local level. It formed the model for all subsequent UK censuses, although each went on to refine and expand the questions asked of householders.

Demography is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. As a very general science, it can analyze any kind of dynamic living population, i.e., one that changes over time or space. Demography encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging, and death. Based on the demographic research of the earth, earth's population up to the year 2050 and 2100 can be estimated by demographers. Demographics are quantifiable characteristics of a given population.

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives. Although generally used interchangeably, strictly speaking, "genealogy" begins with a person who is usually deceased and traces his or her descendants forward in time, whereas, "family history" begins with a person who is usually living and traces his or her ancestors.

Background

Due to the Population Act 1840, the United Kingdom Census of 1841 was conducted using a different framework from that of earlier United Kingdom censuses. The origins of the Population Act 1840 was the report of the 1830 Select Committee on the Population Bill, reprinted in 1840.^[2] The subject of much speculation during the select committee hearings and report was the accuracy of previous census returns,^[2] the first national census being held in 1801.^[3]

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses include agriculture, business, and traffic censuses. The United Nations defines the essential features of population and housing censuses as "individual enumeration, universality within a defined territory, simultaneity and defined periodicity", and recommends that population censuses be taken at least every 10 years. United Nations recommendations also cover census topics to be collected, official definitions, classifications and other useful information to co-ordinate international practice.

In British politics, parliamentary select committees can be appointed from the House of Commons, like the Foreign Affairs Select Committee; from the House of Lords, like the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee; or as a "Joint Committee of Parliament" drawn from both, such as the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Committees may exist as "sessional" committees – i.e. be near-permanent – or as "ad-hoc" committees with a specific deadline by which to complete their work, after which they cease to exist, such as the Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.

During 1840, a Bill titled, 'Population. A bill [as amended by the committee] for taking an account of the population of Great Britain; and of the parish-registers, and annual value of assessable property in England' progressed through Parliament.^[4] The Bill received Royal Assent as 'An Act for taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain 1840', with the short title, Population Act 1840.

A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known internationally as the UK Parliament, British Parliament, or Westminster Parliament, and domestically simply as Parliament, is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the Sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The two houses meet in the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.

Royal assent Formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in others that is a separate step. Under a modern constitutional monarchy royal assent is considered to be little more than a formality; even in those nations which still, in theory, permit the monarch to withhold assent to laws, the monarch almost never does so, save in a dire political emergency or upon the advice of their government. While the power to veto a law by withholding royal assent was once exercised often by European monarchs, such an occurrence has been very rare since the eighteenth century.

Administration of the census

The Population Act 1840 created the position, 'Commissioners for taking account of the population'.^[5] It also gave the Registrar General the responsibility for the census for England and Wales in addition to their responsibility for Civil Registration.^[6] The earliest 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.^[7]

General Register Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in England and Wales, Scotland, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. As such, the GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital records such as births, deaths, and marriages. The director of a General Register Office is titled Registrar General.

The involvement of the Registrar is cited as being important to reorganising the taking of the census.^[7] 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 subdivided into enumeration districts intended to be of a size where one person could collect the data from all households in a single day. For the first time, military personnel in the country aboard their ships or in barracks were included in the census return.^[7] Some 35,000 census enumerators were appointed to undertake the data collection, one enumerator per district, covering a population of about 16 million people.^[1]

A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exist within a county. In unincorporated areas of the United States these are often arbitrary, except for coinciding with political lines.

Census 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.^[7] The Population Act 1840 created an offence of refusing to answer a census question, or providing false information.^[4] Failure to comply with the demand to complete a census form was an offence and penalised by a fine.^[7] The enumerator would help in the completion of the form if, for example, the householder was illiterate.^[8]

The 1841 census recorded people's names, age, sex, occupation, and if they were born in the county of their residence, and if they were born anywhere other than in England and Wales.^[4] 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.^[9] However, not all enumerators followed this instruction and exact ages may have been recorded.^[10]

The completed census forms were transcribed into the local enumerators schedule. In England, the schedule was countersigned by a Superintendent Registrar. In Scotland, the civil registration of birth marriages, and death had not started, so the schedules were countersigned by a schoolmaster, or somebody with a similar status.^[7]

The payment of the expenses for completing the census was delegated, in England, to the Justices of the Peace, who were to finance it through the poor rates, and in Scotland, to the Sheriff Deputies, or in Edinburgh or Glasgow, the Provost of the Royal Burghs.^[4]

Abbreviations of Occupation

The census included the use of abbreviations to describe professions. These included:

Ag. Lab - Agricultural labourer
Ap. - Apprentice
Army - Member of HM land forces of whatever rank
Cl. - Clerk
FS. - Female servant
H.P. - Members of HM armed forces on half-pay
Ind. - Independent - people living on their own means
J. - Journeyman
M. - Manufacturer
m. - Maker e.g. Boot m.
MS. - Male servant
Navy - Member of HM naval forces of whatever rank including marines
N.S. - Not Stated
P. - Pensioners of HM armed forces
Sh. - Shopman

Genealogy

As the first British census which aimed to record details about every citizen, the 1841 census is an important genealogical source. However, it has some limitations when compared to later censuses: exact ages are not usually given; relationships between members of the same household are not stated; and people's places of birth are simply noted as within the census county or not (or are quite frequently given as "N.K.", meaning "Not Known").^[11]^[12]

Very few census records for Ireland prior to 1901 survive due to the Irish Public Office being bombed on 30 June 1922.^[13] The 1841 Census returns for Killeshandra and Cavan survived.^[14]

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References

1 2 "Census records". The National Archives. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
1 2 House of Commons (1840). "Population Bill. Minutes of evidence taken in session 1830, before the Select Committee on the Population Bill" . parlipapers.proquest.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ UK Parliament. "1840 Population Act". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
1 2 3 4 House of Commons (1840). "Population. A bill [as amended by the committee] for taking an account of the population of Great Britain; and of the parish-registers, and annual value of assessable property in England" . parlipapers.proquest.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ UK Parliament. "1840 Population Act". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ Census, The National Archives (2016). "Census 1801-1901". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
1 2 3 4 5 6 University of Portsmouth. "Significant developments in the scope and organisation of the census". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ National Archives. "Focus on… The Census" (PDF). National Archives. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ Swinfield, G; Churchill, E (2017). "Census Records (England and Wales)". Society of Genealogists. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ Family History Records. "CENSUS RECORDS". Family History Records. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ Black Country Living Museum. "Using Census Records" (PDF). Black Country Living Museum. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ National Archives. "Census Form 1841" (PDF). National Archives. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ Crowe, C (30 June 2012). "Ruin of Public Record Office marked loss of great archive". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
↑ "Four Courts destruction, what was lost? | findmypast.com". www.findmypast.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.