Census Day 2021

Like other households in the country, I have just completed my census return. Required to complete a return every ten years, the census collects information to give us a complete picture of the nation. 'The census provides information that government needs to develop policies, plan and run public services, and allocate funding' according to the census 2021 website. A series of questions identified my address, occupation and who is actually in the house today.

Of course collecting information across the nation is not new. In 1086, William the Conqueror carried out a detailed inventory of land and property across much of England and Wales. This was a massive undertaking at the time and took many years to complete, but provided information to help with taxation. Interestingly, at the time of the survey, Carlisle was part of Scotland and therefore not included. 

Information has been collected from 1086 but the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the increase in population, led to an act of Parliament in 1800 and the introduction of the first census the following year and every ten years hence. Thirty years later in 1841, with the creation of the post of Registrar General, a registration service was introduced which took responsibility for collecting information and the census as we know it today was born. This is the earliest census that has survived in its entirety.

At the Museum, the census provides useful information for research enquiries and background to items in our collections. I have also been using it to help me with my own family tree and here is an excerpt from the 1901 census showing my great grandfather John M. Foster and his family, including my granny Elsie F.H. Foster. It shows his occupation as 'Colour Sgt. Infantry' and place of birth as 'Malta.' The return is hand-written by the local officer. Exciting stuff to see my ancestor on an official record when the population in the UK was 32,527,843.

Fast forward ten years to 1911. An excerpt from the census return for Bordon in Hampshire shows the Border Regiment's 2nd Battalion commanded by Lt-Col Bellamy. This is the last census available for public perusal under the 100 year ruling and provides information about the country just before it went to war three years later. Excitement is mounting for the release of the 1921 census which will provide a snapshot of the country after the war. This is due to be made public in January 2022.

Today, filling in the census return online is very different to how information was collected in the past. In 1991, I took on a temporary role as a census enumerator to earn some extra cash whilst a student. After my training, I was allocated a geographical area and went round delivering the notification letter, followed a few weeks later by handing the form directly to a householder, and collecting some initial information from them. If an adult wasn't in, or no-one was at home, I had to call back when someone was there, and return on three separate occasions, before I was allowed to post the form through their letter box. Forms were then collected and I had to go over them with the householder before being sealed into a confidential envelope and then passed on to the assistant census officer. 

Unlike today, when it took me ten minutes to complete the return online, it was a more time-consuming process but I hope that my time spent trekking round the streets of East Hunsbury in Northampton in all weathers will provide valuable information to the researchers of 2091.