Hospitals

[Mrs A]

Can someone please tell me where I can search for someone if he was in Hospital when the 1841 census was taken? I ask because it's my only (and probably last) hope of find my GGGrandfather! He was Richard Harrald Spall and he was born in Waltham Cros, Herfordshire in 1824. I have him on every other census up until his death in the 1880's and all other details, but do you think I can find him in 1841? Well, no, actually, so I'm wondering if he was in Hospital? Unless someone can come up with other suggestions?
thanks in advance!

[Geoffers]

If he was in an institution (e.g. prison, asylum, workhouse, hospital) you may find him recorded just by his initials.

Have you tried variant spellings of the surname?

Was he itinerant and likely to have been missed?

Was he in the armed forces?

Did he ever use an alias? - Was he illegitimate?

[Mrs A]

None of the above - and his mother and siblings are there under the name Spall, so I gues he wasn't and itinerant.. I've searched with Ancestry.com and they fetch up all varient spellings, I think, but none match with his date and place of birth. Where can I search the places you suggest?

[Geoffers]

None of the above...................Where can I search the places you suggest?

Slightly confused of Charlbury here.............If 'none of the above' fit, then surely you've searched the places suggested?...........or..............which places do you need help searching????

One last point. The 1841 census is often not in fantastic condition; some entries are difficult/impossible to read so that they will not have been indexed and the only way then to locate someone is the old fashioned way - i.e. work through each page of a census.

[Mrs A]

So, are asylums, workhouses and hospitals on Ancestry? I must admit I've got lazy of late are rely on t'internet rather that search records myself. would a trip to the records office help?

[Geoffers]

So, are asylums, workhouses and hospitals on Ancestry?

I don't know - I won't use 'ancestry' - I presume they have the full census (apart from 1911 at the moment and would assume that as with other sites they have a means of paging through census returns*









*Not wanting to depress you, but in the days before censuses were available on the internet, I once worked through 647 folios before I found someone I was looking for.............it can take a while (put the kettle on and get comfy).

[Mrs A]

Many thanks for you advice. I think the tea urn might be better! thanks again.

[Kerrywood]

in the days before censuses were available on the internet, I once worked through 647 folios before I found someone I was looking for.............it can take a while (put the kettle on and get comfy).

At least you found him! Before the days of indexing, a colleague of mine spent 7 whole months reading every surviving page of the 1851 census for all of London on CD -- that's 20 (twenty) CDs. He never found the man he was looking for ... and we are still looking .......

[Mrs A]

At least you found him! Before the days of indexing, a colleague of mine spent 7 whole months reading every surviving page of the 1851 census for all of London on CD -- that's 20 (twenty) CDs. He never found the man he was looking for ... and we are still looking .......

Ooo, that's just what I wanted to hear!!

[Colin Moretti]

... but none match with his date and place of birth. ...

Don't forget that in 1841 ages for anyone aged 16 or over were usually not exactly recorded - they should have been rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Also, place of birth is not recorded just whether they were born in the county in which they were enumerated or not. So when you are searching, if the person was born in (say) Cambridge and enumerated there then they will be recorded as born in Cambridgeshire but if they were enumerated in London the index will not say where they were born and the return will simply state N (not born in county).

Colin