Setting The Record Straight: Episode 13 - False Impressions...

In this episode I talk about the process behind the taking of the 19th century English & Welsh census. The role of the enumerator in compiling the census was well-defined and it’s important that we understand what they really did so that we can understand how that process might have an impact on what was recorded. And let me tell you this - it didn't involve anyone standing on a doorstep, asking questions and filling in a form...

[one-placestudiesdirectory]

Everyone researching family history in England & Wales should watch this!

[kezzaba]

Thanks Dave, that is really interesting, I must have known that but forgotten along the way. So the most likely explanation for my ancestors who appear twice on the 1871 with slight differences is looking more likely they were taking the p with the enumerator and thought they would have a laugh which completely fits with everything I know about this particular gypsy family!

[juliansmith]

The enumerator may not have asked the questions in person but he (definitely a "he", I think) still had to translate the answers given on the schedules into the returns - plenty of opportunity for the sort of errors that people may previously have attributed solely to the enumerator. The process described does however make more sense of the entries giving places of birth as "not known" - sounds like this can mean "not known to the youngster who got the job of taking the form to a helpful neighbour". It may also explain close relatives living with families often just being recorded as lodgers.

[scimitaredgebooks]

What is intriguing about this then, is why they dropped the requirement for exact age if people were filling it in themselves?