Census general question

[Peter Goodey]

Further to Pam's excellent reply, it is possible to come across one or two (literally) surviving household returns for pre-1911 censuses.

For example 1871 (England) - RG10/4677 f 76

[patty4]

I am sure that I have come across those that show .. '' signed by ''X' his/her mark or signature ''

[Guy Etchells]

The 1841 Census was filled in by the Enumerators under the following instructions from the Census Act 1840

“V. And be it enacted, That upon Thursday the First Day of July in the Year One thousand eight hundred and forty-one every such Enumerator, under the Direction of the Registrar of the District, shall visit every House within his District, except as herein-after provided, and shall take an Account in Writing of the Name, Sex, Age, and Occupation of every living Person who abode therein on the Night of Wednesday the Thirtieth Day of June in the same Year, and shall also ascertain which of such Persons are Foreigners, and also which were born in the Parish and County in which they shall then be dwelling, and shall also take an Account of the occupied Houses, and of the Houses then building and therefore uninhabited, and also of all other uninhabited Houses within his District ; and in such Account each Enumerator shall distinguish the several Parishes and Places maintaining their own Poor within his District, or such Parts thereof as shall be within his District, and shall also distinguish those Parishes and Places, or Parts of Parishes and Places, within his District, which are within the Limits of any City or Borough returning or contributing to return Member or Members to serve in Parliament, or of any incorporated City or Borough, and shall sign and deliver such Account to the Registrar of the District, and also a Form of Declaration to the Effect that the said Account has been truly and faithfully taken .by him, and that to the best of his Knowledge the same is correct, so far as may be known; which Form of Declaration shall be prepared and issued by the said Commissioners, with the Forms and Instructions to be issued by them as aforesaid.“
The instructions for later census called for the enumerator to fill in the return if the Householder had not completed the return.
Example Census Act 1870
“5. The enumerators shall visit every house in their respective divisions, and shall collect all the schedules so left within their division from house to house, so far as may be possible, on Monday the third day of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and shall complete such of the schedules as upon delivery thereof to them shall appear to be defective, and correct such as they shall find to be erroneous, and shall copy the schedules, when completed and corrected, into books to be provided them for that purpose, and shall add thereunto an account, according to the best information which they shall be able to obtain, of all the other persons living within their division who shall not be included in the schedules so collected by them.”

Cheers
Guy