An occasional series charting the research that led to Chorlton-cum-Hardy A Society Transformed
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton
If you want to find out about people’s lives in the 19th century, one of the best places to start are the census returns.
From 1801 and for the rest of the century a census was held every ten years. The first three undertaken did not retain the personal details of those who filled in the forms. But it is possible to view the statistical records of these and all the other census surveys at www.histpop.org Here the historian can trawl the data and build the bigger picture of what the country was like.
But it is the 1841 census which first allows the historian to investigate the lives of an individual Here are recorded the names of an individual, their marital status and occupation, the county they were born in along with where in the country they lived and their family’s details. And during the course of the rest of the century the information demanded became more revealing. So the 1851 census asked where exactly in a county the person was born and by 1911 the householder had not only to record all his or her living children but also those who had died, along with the number of years a couple had been married. And it became possible to calculate the number of rooms per household.
For the family historian such records are invaluable in building a family tree but they returns will also give a context to the lives of an ancestor. Looking at the other records it should be possible to gain a picture of the occupation of neighbours and the size of homes and so begin to better understand the area.
But of course there a drawbacks. The census was undertaken every ten years and trying to fill in the gaps of where people moved to, the different occupations they may have had and the number of children that were born but did not survive can only be done by looking for other sources. Added to this was the problem that some entries are wrong either because of a deliberate attempt to hide something or the failure of the enumerator to record the details accurately. So in some cases ages are not correct, names are wrong and an illegitimate child is passed off as the offspring of the grandparents.
Nevertheless the census remains a very important starting point for historians. Those from 1841 through to 1911 are available to read online at a number of different sites, including http://www.ancestry.co.uk and http://www.findmypast.co.uk
Picture; detail from the 1861 census, Enu 14, Page 62 London Road, Manchester showing the family of Richard Buxton, working class botanist
* cowshed
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton
If you want to find out about people’s lives in the 19th century, one of the best places to start are the census returns.
From 1801 and for the rest of the century a census was held every ten years. The first three undertaken did not retain the personal details of those who filled in the forms. But it is possible to view the statistical records of these and all the other census surveys at www.histpop.org Here the historian can trawl the data and build the bigger picture of what the country was like.
But it is the 1841 census which first allows the historian to investigate the lives of an individual Here are recorded the names of an individual, their marital status and occupation, the county they were born in along with where in the country they lived and their family’s details. And during the course of the rest of the century the information demanded became more revealing. So the 1851 census asked where exactly in a county the person was born and by 1911 the householder had not only to record all his or her living children but also those who had died, along with the number of years a couple had been married. And it became possible to calculate the number of rooms per household.
For the family historian such records are invaluable in building a family tree but they returns will also give a context to the lives of an ancestor. Looking at the other records it should be possible to gain a picture of the occupation of neighbours and the size of homes and so begin to better understand the area.
And so it is possible to follow the Higginbotham family who
lived on the green and farmed south of the village. They do not appear on the 1841 census but are
recorded on all the remaining ones, and were still here opposite the old parish
church yard in the early 1970s.
Much of the detail of their family history comes to light,
from their birthplaces, the names of their children and those who shared their
home, like the five Irish farmhands who in 1891 lived above the shippon.*
But of course there a drawbacks. The census was undertaken every ten years and trying to fill in the gaps of where people moved to, the different occupations they may have had and the number of children that were born but did not survive can only be done by looking for other sources. Added to this was the problem that some entries are wrong either because of a deliberate attempt to hide something or the failure of the enumerator to record the details accurately. So in some cases ages are not correct, names are wrong and an illegitimate child is passed off as the offspring of the grandparents.
Nevertheless the census remains a very important starting point for historians. Those from 1841 through to 1911 are available to read online at a number of different sites, including http://www.ancestry.co.uk and http://www.findmypast.co.uk
Picture; detail from the 1861 census, Enu 14, Page 62 London Road, Manchester showing the family of Richard Buxton, working class botanist
* cowshed
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