CENSUS LOOKUP REQUESTS NOT FOLLOWED UP

[Marjorie]

I notice that requests for Census look-ups for 1861 do not appear to have any replies.    Does this mean that  the 1861 census is not available?  ( I think I've seen 1851 requests answered.)

[PaulineJ]

I think that it is a combination of two things.

a) a number of 1851 censuses were transcribed by family history societies, so it is easier to do lookups for them. It also means that there is a greater demand for them on CD, so suppliers brought 1851 out first.

b) when you look at counties available on CD from data suppliers, 1861 is still shown as advance order (ie not yet ready for publication.)

So, unless you can get to the originals or examine them on fiche at a local history centre ( and who _wants_ to do that? ) We just have to wait until the cd is available and search from our screens.

Pauline (waiting for Kent 1861 and 1871!)

[Chris in 1066Land]

Hi Marjorie

Got to agree with what Pauline has said.

1851 transcriptions were done by family history societies at a fast and furious rate when they were made available; as were the few surving 1841 returns.

Likewise the 1881 was done nationally by the local societies, then published on fiche by the Federation of Family History Socities - but they did not have a computer mainframe big enough to handle it all - so it was done for the federation by the Mormon Church - Latter Day Saints, who were then (after an appropriate time scale) given licence to publish it on the web and in cd format.

Private enterprise is publishing the scans of the 1891 and 1871 census enumerators returns (and you are having to pay to view them) - All counties of the 1891 are . and the 1871 has about 6 counties on line at the moment through Ancestry.com

So that just leaves the 1861 - many county family history societies have published a name index for it - but as yet it has not appeared in any other format other than the film / fiche of the original returns at your library or county record office.

Hope that explains why we aint got it yet

Chris in 1066Land

[Marjorie]

Thanks Pauline and Chris for explaining about the census - we will just have to be patient won't we?  

[Kazza]

Hello,

I keep a spreadsheet of all our offers and these are the ones we have offers for on 1861:

Essex - Maldon   1861
Glamorgan   1861
Harwich      1861
Leyton      1861
London - barking,eastham,ilford   1861
Romford,dagenham,hornchurch   1861
Westham   c-I    1861
Westham,plaistow,forestgate   c-I   1861
Yorkshire      1861

So requests in these areas should be answered.  the offerer for Yorkshire is away at the moment though so there will be a delay for those.

Kazza.

[kevan]

Hi,
   Just my pennysworth. 1861 indexes are avaialable for ALL of Essex, from genfair (good site) at
http://www.ffhs.co.uk/genfair/system/index.html

  these are invaluable, also many 1861 census CD are slowly becoming available from http://www.archivecdbooks.com  - the quality of these is fantastic, better than anything I have ever seen, but you do need to buy them, or find someone who is prepared to do a look up - they are not indexed. I would guess as these have just come out, most people are engrossed in what they can find for themselves.
  I actually like the 1891 census, purchaseable from Ancestry.com, which is expensive, but often more accuarte than many of the earlier census. But most importantly, the 1881 census from the IGI site is the most fantastic piece of work (and free).
  Apart from this, a google search is often recommended, not just by name, but also by town, there is loads of info that never gets properly indexed. Also try a name and gedcom as the search , there are loads of ways of finding useful info.
  Hope this is of use to someone.
Best
Kevan