Missing pages in 1861 census, Shropshire

[Mike in Cumbria]

I've been looking for families in the Great Ness Parish, in Shropshire and when I started going through the census page by page, I realised that there are gaps in the page numbers. I'm using Ancestry.

Does this mean that there is missing census data, or did enumerators skip pages, and leave some blank?  Also, if they are missing, I'd be interested to know whether FindMyPast has them (ie an Ancestry error) or whether they're physically missing from the archives - a bigger problem.

Also, is it a common problem? I've never noticed it before, but haven't stepped through page by page before.

The missing pages for Great Ness are 6,7,8  10, 16,17,18, 20, 21, 22, 24,

Piece: 1885    Folio:39   Page 1 onwards

Thanks for any advice.
Mike

[Gadget]

Hi Mike

I did find page 22* on FindMyPast the other night but the whole book seemed out of order.


Gadget

* it was after page 18 19!

[Mike in Cumbria]

Just checked Ancestry again, and no page 22 after 19.

I wonder if they are there, just out of order. I haven't worked out how to search by folio and page on Ancestry, so it will be difficult to check.

[CaroleW]

Hi Mike

Don't know whether this helps at all but there are no missing pages listed for Shropshire

www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces

[Gadget]

Just checked Ancestry again, and no page 22 after 19.

I wonder if they are there, just out of order. I haven't worked out how to search by folio and page on Ancestry, so it will be difficult to check.

They are all there on FindMyPast but very much out of order. I had to step through to find the Jones family.

Just wondering if you could get them via FamilySearch.

Gadget

[Mike in Cumbria]

Hi Mike

Don't know whether this helps at all but there are no missing pages listed for Shropshire

www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces

Thanks Carole, that's very good to know.

[Mike in Cumbria]

Just checked Ancestry again, and no page 22 after 19.

I wonder if they are there, just out of order. I haven't worked out how to search by folio and page on Ancestry, so it will be difficult to check.

They are all there on FindMyPast but very much out of order. I had to step through to find the Jones family.

Just wondering if you could get them via FamilySearch.

Gadget

I had trouble trying to set up a FamilySearch account, I think their webform was wonky. I'll try again though, and failing that take out another FindMyPast subscription.
it's reassuring to know the data is actually out there though, so thanks once again.

[davidft]

Just because sites say there are no missing pages doesn't mean they have all the pages that do exist. A recent example I came across of three pages missing on Ancestry but available on FindMyPast was

 1871 census at Loose, Kent. Harriett Froud (35) and 4 children. Census reference Piece 939, 95, 34. George does not appear to be on Ancestry in 1871 (schedule has a gap from record 303 to 336 for Snodland and George is at 320 on the schedule) but he is on familysearch and findmypast as follows

Charles Millham (Millhand) 35 born Yalding, Kent. Wife Eliza Millham 26. Children Naomi 2, John C Millham aged 0 and George Froud, boarder, 42 Loose, Kent 42 at Holboro Road Snodland.

So the moral of the story if you can't find it with one company try the others (I have informed Ancestry of the omission but the problem with that is they never tell you what they have done about it).

[Mean_genie]

The most complete list of pages known to be missing from the 1861 census can be found by searching The National Archives catalogue (Advanced search for ‘missing’ or ‘wanting’ restricted to RG9).

If you are looking at the online images, look at the folio numbers. If there are missing page numbers, but the folio numbers are continuous, the pages are lost forever. If there is a gap in the folio numbers, try other sites first, but in very rare cases a camera operator could have turned two pages at once when the books were microfilmed decades ago. It has been known to happen.