Main heading

• If you know roughly where your ancestors lived between 1841 and 1901, census returns can provide you with further detail.

What information will I find?

• Arranged by place, they contain an entry for every household which includes details of name, age, occupation, place of birth
  and relationship to each other (from 1851) for every person present on the night of the census.
• Returns were taken every 10 years (except 1941) and first taken in 1801, but names of individuals were not included until 1841.
• Census returns are closed to the public for 100 years.

How do I find my ancestors on the census?

• Local indexes of surnames and streets have been compiled for some years and places. The 1881 census and 1901 census are the only returns with a complete, national index.

Where will I find the census returns?

• Copies of the census for 1841-1901 for all counties in England and Wales are available at the Family Records Centre. 
• Record Offices and many libraries hold copies of the census returns for their county or local area
• Our People's Network computers in the searchroom can access the library version of Ancestry.com, so you can access the census for 1841-1901 free of charge

Useful Links

The 1881 census for England and Wales is available free at:

• http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp

All available census returns from 1841-1901 are accessible for a charge via The National Archives website.

Information about the background to the census and practical advice on using the census returns

• http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/frc/research/censusmain.htm
• http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/topics/census.htm

Cheshire Links

Census returns for the ancient county of Cheshire (including the Wirral and the parts of Cheshire now in Greater Manchester) are available on microfilm at Cheshire Record Office

The Family History Society of Cheshire has produced a CD copy of the 1851 and 1871 census returns for Cheshire. These are searchable by name and place and are available from the Society, at the Record Office and some libraries, along with some paper indexes for other census years

Some Cheshire Libraries hold census returns on microfilm for their local area.