Step Four: Use the census

By providing a series of snapshots of the population at the start of every decade, the census in England, wales and Scotland offers the chance to trace your ancestors back through time at ten-yearly intervals.

Details featured in different versions of the survey include:

- Name

- Age

- Marital status

- Relationship to the head of the household

- Occupation

- Where people spent census night

The first census that recorded information useful for genealogists was carried out in England, Wales and Scotland in 1841. Returns or copies of the enumerators' summary books for England and Wales from the 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 surveys ar available online at websites including www.ancestry.co.uk, www.findmypast.co.uk, www.genesreunited.co.uk and www.thegenealogist.co.uk. Scottish returns up to 1901 can be searched at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, while Irish data from 1901 and 1911 is online at www.census.nationalarchives.ie.

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