Pre 1841 censuses, (and very few survive) are almost all statistical only, i.e. number of males and females in a household, although some do contain the names of the head of the household.

The 1841 census was the first to have all names and ages of the household, together with occupations listed. Censuses from 1851 onwards contain much more information.

The 1841 Census

A census enumerator's book of the 1841 census contains the following information:

• Usually a simple address, with little detail.
• Houses - (inhabited and uninhabited) A count of the number of inhabited and uninhabited houses.
• Names of each person who abode therein the previous night. First name and surname.
• Age and Sex - A column for each. Ages of those over 20 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years, therefore a person age 44 would be shown as aged 40. Those under 20 years of age were recorded with their proper age. In practice, although the above were the instructions to enumerators, it is relatively common to see the exact age af adults stated.
• Profession, Trade or Employment, or of Independent Means
• Where Born The actual place of birth is not recorded. If born in same county simply a Y (born in the same county) or a N. Whether born in Scotland (S), Ireland (I) or Foreign parts (F).

The Censuses from 1851

• The Parish (or Township)
• The Citiy or Municipal Borough
• The Municipal Ward
• The Parliamentary Borough
• The Town
• The Hamlet or Tything
• The Ecclesiastical District

The main columns of the census enumerator's book contained the following:

• The No. of the Schedule

• Road, Street, and No. or name of house
  • Very often, this was left blank, except for in towns and cities. It may contain the name of a part of a village. It is not uncommon for the house number to be omitted.

• Houses (inhabited or uninhabited)
  • A simple count of houses.

• Name and surname of each person
  • Listed with the head of household first, then the wife(if applicable), then children in descending age order, then other people such as visitors, servants, etc. It was normal to use "Do." (ditto) to avoid writing out the same surname for each person.

• Relation to head of family

Head	Head of the household
Wife	Wife of householder (a widow or unmarried son can be the head)
Son	Son
Daur	Daughter
Serv	Servant
Vis	Visitor (note that a visiting daughter, i.e not normally resident, will usually be  listed as visitor, rather than daughter)

• Condition

Mar	Married
Unm	Unmarried
Wid	Widow or widower

• Age (male and female columns)
  • Exact age given, but be aware that this may not be accurate for various reasons. The exact age may not be known, or, where the wife is older than the husband, the age stated may be "fudged".

• Rank, Profession or Occupation
  • There were acceptable abbreviations, for example Ag. Lab. is an agricultural labourer, FWK is a framework knitter. In the case of farmers, the size of the farm would be stated. In the case of an employer, it is usual to state, for example: "employing 4 men".

• Where born
  • Place and county, (or country). This is not always accurate! A person may have thought they were born in a place, but really, they just spent their younger days in a particular place and thought that was their birthplace.

• Whether blind, or deaf & dumb
  • Stated. e.g. "blind" or "blind from birth".