1861 Census

The 1861 Census for England was taken on the night of 7 April 1861. All responses were to reflect the individual’s status as of 7 April 1861 for all individuals who had spent the night in the house. People who were traveling or living abroad were enumerated at the location where they spent the night on census night.

Information in this database:

Name of street, avenue, road, etc.
House name or number
Whether property vacant or inhabited
Surname of head of household
Name of persons who had spent the night in the household
Relationship of enumerated person to head of house
Person’s marital status
Age at last birthday (gender indicated by column in which age is recorded)
Person’s occupation
Person’s place of birth
Whether blind, deaf, or idiot

The clerks who compiled and reviewed the census data made a variety of marks on the returns. Unfortunately, many of these tally marks were written over personal information and some fields, such as ages, can be difficult to read as a result. More useful marks include a single slash between households within a building and a double slash separating households in separate buildings.