Census records

[JacknJill]

Does anybody know a site where I could look up certain census records? For example - Whitechapel, 1888, and see who was living there in that year. Most every one I've looked at so far need you to pay or need some subscription - for which you eventually pay. Any suggestions? Please and thankyou.

[Jon Guy]

Hello

The closest Census data would be 1891 (every ten years)

Try Ancestory.com as they are offering a free trial period

[Sam Flynn]

Be aware, though, that Ancestry recently "improved" (not!) its search engine, so that tracking people down by residency isn't as easy to do now as it was, say, 18 months ago. If you tried to search on "Whitechapel" now, you'd likely get a load of crap back, mixed in with the proper matches. Ancestry evidently thought that providing a "star-rating" alongside the search results would help, but it's nowhere near as useful as returning only the definite "hits" relating to the search parameter you entered.

[JacknJill]

Thanks for letting me know Sam. Jon, I'll give Ancestry.com a go, it's the closest I have to a 'free' search, even if it is only a trial period. If anyone has any suggestions, post away.

[kensei]

On the census, I've been meaning to ask this since I read "Will the Real Mary Kelly...?" by Christopher Scott a couple of months back, in which he fails to conclusively identify MJK in census or any other records. My question is- in areas as chaotic as the East End back then with rampant homelessness, etc., how accurate could the census have been? How common was it for people to ignore it or not even know it was being conducted?

[Shelley]

Well, your very best bet is not to let the computer keyboard buttons lead you to the census info, the very best source would join & obtain membership with the public records office at Kew gardens, Richmond. Then have a very good search there, you are sure to find what you are looking for. There are far too many internet outlets that either do not give you the information your looking for, either part of the information ( witholding the parts you want to take a look at) when you depend on something for Free. Others will give you the information you seek but for a price.


Hope that helps.

[Sam Flynn]

On the census, I've been meaning to ask this since I read "Will the Real Mary Kelly...?" by Christopher Scott a couple of months back, in which he fails to conclusively identify MJK in census or any other records. My question is- in areas as chaotic as the East End back then with rampant homelessness, etc., how accurate could the census have been? How common was it for people to ignore it or not even know it was being conducted?

A good point, Ken, and I dare say that some "gaps" in the censuses might be explained by such abstentions and omissions. In the specific case of Mary Kelly, however, it's fair to assume that - before her "fall from grace" - she ought to be in the 1871/1881 censuses somewhere.

[Chris]

Thanks for letting me know Sam. Jon, I'll give Ancestry.com a go, it's the closest I have to a 'free' search, even if it is only a trial period. If anyone has any suggestions, post away.

Of course, there's also a free searchable transcript of the 1881 census available here:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp

[Bob Hinton]

1881

I thought the free version of the 1881 census was on line anyway.

[Chris]

I thought the free version of the 1881 census was on line anyway.

Yes - I was just providing a link to it.

[aspallek]

Try www.findmypast.com. They provide good access to all available census data. The 1881 results are free. Other years are available by paid subscription or pay-as-you-go fees.

[Mike Covell]

Hi Jack N Jill, you don't mention your location, but here in the UK several Council's have free internet access in their libraries that hold Ancestry Library Edition. It's worth trying to speak to your local library if your in the UK.

[JacknJill]

Thanks aspallek. I'll have a look. Unfortunately Mike, I'm alllll the way over in Australia. I don't think we have anything like that here.

[Mike Covell]

Some websites offer the census on disk, so you can buy and browse whenever you wish, although, as you can imagine these are quite costly, quite large, and only cover limited registration districts!