Hall Family Missing from 1851 Census

[josey]

I couldn't find them no matter what I tried.  One can only assume that they got missed for some reason.

Yes, I tried with just forenames & approximate years of birth, which I am sure you have too. Will have another look to see if any of the houses in Henry Street appear to be 'under occupied'.

[coombs]

I have also had a look under surname variants, and just first names, especially for Lydia and Ellen as they were less common than Sarah and Emma etc. Either there was a missing page that has gone undetected or they were missed as others say. I know as I have a similar case.

In 1851 my Quilter family of Leigh On Sea are missing from 1851 taken on 30th March, and on the very same day they baptised 2 of their twin children at the parish church. I have done all the surname variants, and just first names, and found nothing, and even did a trawl through the original scans for the parish and found nothing. I think they were missed from the census, enumerators are only human after all. I once read in a genealogy book that a reason for failure to find ancestor on a census is not just missing sheets but the enumerator may have missed a house or even street.

[MJW]

Could your ancestors have been lodgers or boarders?

In "Census - The Expert Guide" there's a section on why some people were missing from the census. it says that lodgers and boarders were often the most likely to be omitted.  Lodgers were supposed to be issued with their own schedules to complete and give to the enumerator whilst boarders were supposed to be included on the householder's schedule. This didn't always happen. The householder might forget to include people who were not strictly seen as part of the household. Lodger's schedules might not have been delivered or collected.  Apparently, some enumerators were reluctant to enter certain buildings. 

Malcolm

[bfrance99]

Thanks everyone for your help. I am guessing that they were just not counted in the census for whatever reason, or perhaps there is a missing page (although that seems unlikely since the other occupants of Henry Street are recorded).

It's interesting to know that other people have struggled with the same problem though! Enumerators are obviously subject to human error.

[bearkat]

The numbering for Henry Street, Sheffield seems odd.

The odd numbers seem to stop at 9 whilst the even numbers jump about a bit.