Where in the Census are they?
Missing Censuses
We all will have come across a case where your ancestor seems to be missing from a census. There are lots of reasons why this might be, but there is one which we don’t usually consider. It’s not your ancestors that are missing, but the census documents that are missing. How can we find out if this is the case?
I am going to suggest two ways. The first is free.
First way is to The National Archives
https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Click on “Search the catalogue”
In the “Search” box, type the code for the census year that you want to check. (We all know these codes off by heart don’t we? 1841 – HO107, 1851 – HO107 (Yes it is the same), 1861 - RG9, 1871 – RG10, 1881 – RG11, 1891 – RG12, 1901 – RG13 and 1911 – RG14) After the code, type the word ‘missing’. E.g. RG9 Missing. If you type this you will find 897 records missing. Each record might mention several parishes. A lot are in Wales, but not all.
If you want a specific place you could type RG9 Missing Tunbridge which will find the records missing in Tunbridge Wells and Tunbridge in Kent.
If you click on a record it will tell you the specific pages which are missing.
The second way uses Find My Past, a pay site.
Once you are on the site click on “Search”. Slightly hidden on the right just above the Search boxes is “A-Z of record Sets”. Click on that. Type in the Search box the census year you are interested in, e.g. 1861 but any year will do. The top one is “1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census”, click on that.
Scroll down past all the search boxes and on the right you will see a column headed “Useful Links and Resources”, the top one is “Census for England, Wales and Scotland: missing pieces. Click on that.
(Alternatively you can click on
www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces
This will get you directly there.)
The site will not give as much information as The National Archives but it gives you an indication.
I am going to suggest two ways. The first is free.
First way is to The National Archives
https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Click on “Search the catalogue”
In the “Search” box, type the code for the census year that you want to check. (We all know these codes off by heart don’t we? 1841 – HO107, 1851 – HO107 (Yes it is the same), 1861 - RG9, 1871 – RG10, 1881 – RG11, 1891 – RG12, 1901 – RG13 and 1911 – RG14) After the code, type the word ‘missing’. E.g. RG9 Missing. If you type this you will find 897 records missing. Each record might mention several parishes. A lot are in Wales, but not all.
If you want a specific place you could type RG9 Missing Tunbridge which will find the records missing in Tunbridge Wells and Tunbridge in Kent.
If you click on a record it will tell you the specific pages which are missing.
The second way uses Find My Past, a pay site.
Once you are on the site click on “Search”. Slightly hidden on the right just above the Search boxes is “A-Z of record Sets”. Click on that. Type in the Search box the census year you are interested in, e.g. 1861 but any year will do. The top one is “1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census”, click on that.
Scroll down past all the search boxes and on the right you will see a column headed “Useful Links and Resources”, the top one is “Census for England, Wales and Scotland: missing pieces. Click on that.
(Alternatively you can click on
www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces
This will get you directly there.)
The site will not give as much information as The National Archives but it gives you an indication.
