Missing person on census

[MOM OF TWO]

What experience have other rootchatters of not being able to trace people on census nights. Is this common ?  Certain individuals in my family tree can be found on some censuses but then they may not be found on the next leaving gaps in the census sources.

Where have you found missing people on census nights ?
where should I be looking other than known area where they lived.

Is it possible to do census searches when they are on military service ?

lookingforward to your replies
Teresa

[Biker]

Hi Teresa

Join the club    Some of mine are 'missing' and some of them critical for my direct line research   Been searching years trying to 'find' them in other ways, so will plug on and eventually ........ who knows.

Most of my families are in London, so various parishes and census years where my lot are missing.

Military service or being abroad is one possibility.  But more likely they may not have been enumerated, or enumerated incorrectly, or mistranscribed, but there are lots of reasons.  Also some census pages are so feint it is impossible to read them, or appear to have been damaged.  You'll also see a proportion of people whose names are listed as a blank or NK or Not Known or I've even seen someone enumerated as An Old Man (no name at all!).

Also, as far as London is concerned which I know best, there are sections of various censuses that have been destroyed or similar and are ...... history, so to speak.  There are records of which census pieces are destroyed/missing. 

I'm sure lots of others will pitch in with their Tales of the Missing 

Don't give up though as there have been some amazing finds (many on Rootschat) of people one thought 'missing' on the censuses.


Sympathetically
Biker 

[PaulineJ]

You can also have "occupational absences".
Mariners, miners on night shift, bakers etc.

Pauline

[Nutty1966]

Well I have been looking for one of mine for nearly 3 years now, still not got her on the census, but managed to find her baptism, when I saw the record poor soul was in the workhouse and the whole pages were all inmates from the workhouse and all aged 14, I wonder if this was done due to their age and would be ready to go and work for a living.  To say I was pleased with this info is an understatement, I screamed out loud


So please don't give up they may surface one day  Good luck

Jane

[MaryA]

There are lots of occupational absences, often unexplained as I know too, but there are also cases where whole families are unable to be found and this could be due to bad handwriting, spelling etc. especially if they have moved to an area you might not be expecting to find them.

Many Rootschatters will be happy help try to find them with creative searches, often just using a first name, birthplace and age.

Try posting details of the censuses you have them on the appropriate county board and let others join in the search.  Many hands sometimes work.

Mary

[sheddyg]

Teresa -  I`ve had one or two away at school, quite a few visiting relatives or friends that I didn`t previously know about, some staying at guest or boarding houses and one who had unexpectedly become a member of the Clergy. Lots with misspelt names and incorrect ages, even wrongly given the same surname as the head of the household - just to throw me off the scent! and some who I just don`t know why I didn`t find them before! as they were there all along.
Of course there are some who I know I`ll never find...but I keep searching - just in case...
sheddyg

[janan]

Hi Teresa
One of mine has gone awol in 1871 - I have him in 1861 and in Richmond Workhouse in 1881 but where he is hiding in 1871 I don't know. So far even the combined forces on Rootschat have failed to locate him. Prison or asylum which enumerated by initials only is always a possibility.
Jan

[meles]

I have a whole family missing in 1861 - there's a thread going at the moment where I'm seeking help.

Another of mine was missing, but then I found them with because Ancestry had them under a different surname. So you might try that (eg if they are Smith, try Smyth, Cmyth, Smit, and so on)

Good luck

meles

[kerryb]

I've got a whole family missing in 1891 I've tried all means to find them but with no luck!!!

Trouble is I really need to know what young children there were in the family to prove whether the first wife died in childbirth or not.

Typical 

Kerry