7 minute read
Genealogy
Using and understanding 1901 and 1911 online census records
Tom Quinlan explains
Of all the archival sources of information available to those with an interest in genealogy, census records – a survey and enumeration of all people and households at a designated point in time - are perhaps the most valuable and frequently used.
A nation’s official census of population constitutes the most complete periodic survey of information about a country’s people that government makes. Because the aim is to include everybody, the returns of information made to government provide a detailed and comprehensive snapshot of an entire population, where the same type of information has been collected on everyone at the same point in time.
Although a census is undertaken for the primary purpose of providing government with essential information on the people who make up the nation, one of the secondary uses of census return forms is by those engaged in research of their ancestors. And few richer seams of quality information on people are to be found.
A census was taken in Ireland every ten years from 1821 until 1911. No census was taken in 1921 because of the disturbed state of the county during the War of Independence. Decennial census resumed in 1926 in those twenty- six counties that comprised the Irish Free State and a census subsequently taken in 1936 and 1946. The pattern of collection then changed and a census was taken in 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1979 (the census due in 1976 was cancelled as an economy measure), 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2006, 2011 and 2016.
direction to hunt for elusive ancestors in its raw data, remember that census records are closed to public access for 100 years from the date on which the census was taken. This means that the latest census to which there is public access is the 1911 census.
instances, the family historian had to be armed with information as to an ancestor’s address to have any possibility of finding census returns of potential research relevance.
The need to know an ancestor’s address for success in census research was due to the physical arrangement of the original records, which is alphabetically by county, then grouped by district electoral division. Within the records for each district electoral division, files of census returns are arranged by name of townland or town and street.
Putting the census returns online in the form of digital images of the original returns, with indexing of census data to facilitate online searching and retrieval of specific returns, revolutionised accessibility. It enabled anybody to perform the most simple of searches with a piece of information as basic as a family surname and to have presented a list of all families bearing that name, with links to other more detailed information on those families and to the digital image of the original census household return, as well as related enumerator census returns.
So, what are the census forms that can be accessed online and what kind of information do they contain?
The most useful relevant form for anybody doing family history is Form A, which is the census return for each household recording each member of the family and any visitors, boarders or servants. It was completed and signed by the head of the household. Information recorded on each individual resident in a household on census night 1901 or 1911 is name, age, sex, relationship to head of the household, religion, occupation, marital status, county or country of birth. Also recorded is information on an individual’s literacy and ability to speak the Irish language, and whether deaf, dumb, blind, idiot, imbecile or lunatic. Form A for 1911 also records the number of years for which women had been married, where relevant, and the number of children born alive and the number still living.
For the family historian, the information in Form A can be usefully supplemented with that recorded by the census enumerator on Form B1, which is a return of houses and buildings inhabited by each family in a townland or street. Form B1 provides information on the nature and class or standard of the building in which the family lived.
The enumerator was required to identify the material from which the house was built (stone/brick/concrete or mud/wood or other perishable material) and to allocate the respective numerical value of either 1 or 0 based on this. Similarly, the type of material used in the roof construction was scored as either 1 - if slate, tiles or metal was used - or as 0 - if thatch, wood or other perishable material was used. Numerical values were assigned by the enumerator to indicate the number of rooms occupied by the household and the precise number of windows in the front of the house was recorded. Based on the total of these values, the house was scored by the enumerator as either a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th class dwelling.
The enumerator even recorded the name of the landholder on whose property the dwelling house was situated and, where different from the name of the householder, this indicates whether the property was owner-occupied or rented.
Use of Form B1 in conjunction with Form B2, which is a return of out-buildings attached to a dwelling house that identifies stables, coach houses, cow houses, dairies, piggeries, barns etc. can be used to provide not only an important insight into the living conditions of all members of a particular household listed on the Form A household return, including the quality of accommodation, the appearance of the house in which the household lived, but also the relative prosperity of a household where such distinct buildings as coach houses, stables and dairies can be identified. It is important to bear in mind that not all people recorded in the 1901 or 1911 census are to be found on the standard household Form A return. Occupants of various institutions, for example, barracks, ships, workhouses, hospitals, colleges, orphanages, etc. were recorded on separate forms as follows:
Form B3: Shipping return. Form E: Workhouse return. Form F: Hospital return. Form G: College and Boarding-School return. Form H: Barrack return. Form I: Return of Idiots and Lunatics in institutions. Form K: Prison return.
People in institutions on census night were recorded only by their initials. Thus, Mary Smith will be listed only as M.S. or John Murphy as J.M.
Is the online census easy to search? As mentioned, putting the census online revolutionised access. It allowed the family historian to search census data to find returns for named individuals who had hitherto remained hidden.
The National Archives census website at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ can be searched in two ways: by name or by geographic location. However, the less precise the information entered in the search boxes, the more numerous the results that have to be sifted through. It is important to remember that the census data has been indexed as the names were written into the original census form. Spellings have not been corrected.
The basic topographical divisions for the census are: county; district electoral division; townland or street. This is a simple hierarchical structure which makes it easy to access returns for any area in the country. The returns are arranged in clusters by townland/street within district electoral division within county.
For anybody unsure of the townland or street the person sought lived in, browsing can be done within a district electoral division of a county, which contains numbers of townlands or streets. The browse function allows searching for someone through location, and to view households surrounding that of an ancestor. It also allows for studies of particular districts.
For those who search online and get too many results, it is possible to
add any extra information in the relevant search boxes, such as age, sex, townland, street; try alternative spellings of the name; type the street/townland name into the relevant box where this is known, and it will locate all the occupants of that street/ townland.
For those who search online and get no results, this could be due to a number of factors:
The name could be spelled differently, so variations of spelling or a wildcard search should be tried. The person may not have lived where you think, so searching the name without any geographic information should be tried. The person sought may not have been in Ireland on census night. The person you are seeking may have been in an institution, and only listed under their initials.
Happy hunting!
Specialists in Joint Replacement, Spinal Surgery, Orthopaedics and Sport Injuries
TREATING ACTIVE PEOPLE OF ALL AGES
SSC provides the following services:
Assessment, diagnosis and treatment ofall orthopaedic conditions and sports injuries Shoulder, hip and knee joint replacement surgery Spinal assessment / spinal surgery Hand, foot and ankle surgery Fullyequipped Sports & Exercise Medicine department State-of-the-art Physiotherapy and Performance
Rehabilitation departments Strength & Conditioning MRI /X-Ray
SSC in Santry, Dublin, provides world-class medical facilities for:
+ Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of all orthopaedic conditions including shoulder, hand, foot and ankle, spine, hip and knee + Shoulder, hip and knee joint replacement surgery + Hand, foot and ankle surgery + Spinal surgery + Sports related injuries + New, fully equipped Sports & Exercise
Rehabilitation Gym + MRI / X-ray and fully equipped Diagnostic
Imaging Department
