Need Help With Look Up Please

[lowestoft-lass]

hello its me again...
could anyone help me with a look up on a
WILLIAM SPICER BORN 1837 IN ST GILES MIDDLESEX.
i dont know how far back census go but i have him in the 1871,1881 when he was married to a FRANCES who was born 1838 in ascot derby.
any info would be lovely..
i do intend to buy cds after christmas so i can help others out like i have been helped .

also where would i look to find out if someone left the country?

[Geoffers]

[i dont know how far back census go]

I can't help with the lookup, but the type of census returns that you've been using so far, date back to 1841.

The 1841 census has limited information
Name, Age (for those aged over 15 this is normally rounded down to the nearest 5 years), Occuaption, Whether born within the county or not and whether born in Scotland, Ireland or foreign parts; disability.

From 1851 onwards, additional information is included:
name, relationship to head of household, marital condition, age, occupation, birthplace. disability

[also where would i look to find out if someone left the country?]

This is more difficult and would depend to a certain extent on what the period. There isn't a central index. Many people emigrated as a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834., which provided assistance for those wishing to emigrate. The records relating to this are held in TNA at Kew, in document class MH12. The records are easy to use, but are arranged by Poor Law Union and parishes wihtin each Union.

Obligatory passenger lists for those travelling beyond Europe are also in TNA in BT27. It's all but impossible to find someone, unless you know the year and port of depature - there are no name indexes. There are a couple of websites - 'The Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild' and 'The Olive Tree' The URLs will turn up using any decent search engine.

Other ways of tracing some emigrants exist, but it depends on circumstances and occupation.

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire