Searching censuses

[Sheilah]

Hi there,
To the more experienced of you this may be a stupid question! But is there a way of searching the censuses by address or area? I have tried numerous ways of doing this, like putting down an address I think may be near the people I'm looking for, or just the street etc but all I get told is 'not enough information'. I have ancestors in Glasgow in a certain area and would like to search by street to see if I can find them. Help would be appreciated please.
Sheilah

[harfin]

Hi there,
To the more experienced of you this may be a stupid question! But is there a way of searching the censuses by address or area? I have tried numerous ways of doing this, like putting down an address I think may be near the people I'm looking for, or just the street etc but all I get told is 'not enough information'. I have ancestors in Glasgow in a certain area and would like to search by street to see if I can find them. Help would be appreciated please.
Sheilah

It all depends!

Which census and which website are you using to access the census?

Alan

[Sheilah]

Hi Alan,
I use Ancestry as i can search the Scottish censuses in with my subscription. I used to use SP but that gets expensive when I'm not sure where exactly to look. The reason I asked is because I know there are relations in other streets nearby, but not which exactly and not their married names.

Sheilah

[Mutley]

Hello Sheilah,
It is not easy in Ancestry. This topic has been discussed several times on the Forum. Try the forum search box. One example is
http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21483&highlight=ancestry+registration

It does not help with Glasgow as it refers to London but Arthur gives a good explanation and there may be other threads that mention Glasgow.

If I get stuck with not knowing a registration district I often open Ancestry and put in a name like John Smith born (a date near the census you are looking for) in Glasgow and Search. That takes you to an index and then click on the Advanced Search. Remove the Smith and answer the other questions as best you can and enter Glasgow and the area in the residence boxes.

You are then given a new index list. You have to click on other people until you find one that lives in the area you want and then click on View the original image. From here you can work through the original pages looking at the streets. On the line at the top you will also see District and a number. If you click on that it will take you to the description of the streets in that registration district.

Takes time but can produce results. Good Luck.

[arthurk]

You might get somewhere with the help of a trade or street directory - there are lots of these available at Parish Chest (http://www.parishchest.com). The Glasgow and West of Scotland FHS (http://www.gwsfhs.org.uk) has a lot of publications for Glasgow as well, including census indexes. Indexes are generally arranged by name, and can't be searched by street (usually that would be called a transcription), but if you contact the society they may be able to explain what's what, and offer other suggestions.

Arthur

[Sheilah]

Hello Arthur and Mutley,

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated. I will give all avenues a try and try to find the elusive relations. I know they're there somewhere!

Sheilah x:)

[Mutley]

We are all here to help,

If you get stuck, give us the name and the place.

Lots of heads are better than one and we love a challenge;)