Searching tips please

[PurpleOwl333]

I can't seem to locate my gr-grandparents together on either the 1891 or with their children on the 1901 census. They're altogether under one roof on the 1911 one.

I've searched under gr-grandfather's name with gr-grandmother's first name only and without, under gr-grandmother's name with his first name and without, even tried a couple of the children on their own and together or the 1901 census but coming up blank on all counts.

I've left the location field blank in case they decided to move to an area away from where they were raised and lived.  All I can think now is that something happened and the family was separated for some reason. I did come across an entry in a hospital for gr-grandmother's name, around the right age, so perhaps the kids were living with other family at this time, if it was her.

Any ideas for alternative searches appreciated, thanks! 
Laura

[Treetotal]

If you post their names and dates and place of birth someone may find them for you. Have you looked for matching trees on Ancestry to see if they have them for those census returns?
Carol

[PurpleOwl333]

Thanks Carol, I know there are many here who could probably find them in minutes, but I'd love to increase my own skill in searching as I need to practice

I hadn't, however, thought about other trees. I'll take a gander 

If you post their names and dates and place of birth someone may find them for you. Have you looked for matching trees on Ancestry to see if they have them for those census returns?
Carol

[Girl Guide]

Is the surname one that could be wrongly spelled? If so try to think of variations, insert * at the beginning of surname or between letters of the surname.

Might have lied about ages so expand the birth year to 5 or even 10 plus.

Have you tried g-grandpa's first name and occupation only?

Have you tried an address search using the 1911 address?

[mike175]

Depending on how common the surname is, it sometimes helps to try searching just on that . . . in the specific census, not a broad search. If there are many results then you can gradually narrow it down by adding first name, date of birth, spouse, etc. one by one. I have found this successful in a few cases.

If you think the children may have been separated it might be worth looking at other realtives who might have taken them in: siblings, cousins, parents, etc.

Even after nearly 20 years of research I still have ancestors who just seem to disappear in one census year only to reappear ten years later.

[StevieSteve]

It's often the surnames that have been mistranscribed so you could also try the least common first name, leave surname blank, with exact keyword of either parish of residence or birth, whichever is less common. If that produces too many then restrict by year of birth.

Then look for unlikely surname spellings

[avm228]

One of the key things is to know as much as possible about who you are looking for.  So make a list of all the children (not just those still with them in 1911) and do a forensic job on them - full given names at birth, where were they born, where were they baptised, what was the family’s exact address at the time of baptism.  If any of them have died, where and when?  Where does this chronology place the family at dates close to the missing censuses?

By understanding the family’s chronology in detail, you much improve your chances of finding them.

Are they a Harding family in South London, by any chance (George Harding and Rose Elizabeth nee Rowland, marr Jun qtr 1882 St Giles, later settled in Camberwell)? It really is so much easier to help if we have real people and real places to work with, rather than trying to come up with every possible theoretical search method for you.  The advice can often differ depending on what complementary resources are available for the relevant location, such as London baptisms, electoral rolls etc.

[Jebber]

Try searching on a different website, only yesterday I couldn't find a family, no matter what method I used to search, so I  tried a different website and found them right away. Using the details of someone unrelated on the same page, I went back to the first website and looked for him, he showed up immediately and it enabled me to find that everything about the transcription of my family, names, occupations and birth places bore no relation to what was actually on the census page, I sent off a long list of corrections.

[PurpleOwl333]

Very helpful suggestions, thank you all! 

I've located the children on the 1911 census living with a relative who's not yet on my tree (at least they have the same surname). They're listed with slightly different names, Ernest became Edward (his middle name), Herbert became Bertie and Rosina became Rosie.

Yes avm, the Harding family is the one I was researching, my 3 x gr grandparents. On the 1911 census it stated they'd had 6 children and 4 were living, so I was hoping to find the other 2 on the earlier censuses. I have 4 possibilities based on now searching the GRO website. Then I'll need to find out what happened to George & Rose.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions everyone.