The 1911 Census for Great Bradley
About the 1911 census
The 1911 census for England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April, 1911. The count included all individual households, plus institutions such as prisons, workhouses, naval vessels and merchant vessels, and it also attempted to make an approximate count of the homeless.
What is in the 1911 census?
In common with the censuses that preceded it, it recorded the following information:
In response to government concerns the 1911 census also asked additional, more specific questions to each household, about fertility in marriage and occupational data.
The 1911 census documents
Prior to 1911, the household schedules were destroyed once the details had been transferred into the enumerators’ summary books. But for the 1911 census both sets of records have been preserved, which means you can see the census documents filled out in your ancestor’s own hand (complete with mistakes and additional comments), in addition to the edited version in the enumerators’ summary.
The household schedules (original household pages), plus their transcriptions can be viewed. Images of the associated enumerator's summary book pages are included in the price of viewing a household schedule image.
The 1911 census and the suffragettes
Frustrated with the government’s refusal to grant women the vote, a large number of women boycotted the 1911 census by refusing to be counted.
There were two forms of protest. In the first, the women (or their husband) refused to fill in the form, often recording their protest to the enumerator. In the second, women evaded the census by staying away from their home for the whole night.
In both cases, any details relating to individual women in the households will be missing from the census.
For the family historian the active refusal to fill in the form (accompanied by a protest statement) at least registers the presence of a woman/women in the household, whereas the women who evaded the count are simply untraceable via the census.
The exact number of women who boycotted the census is not known, though some people have estimated that it may be as many as several thousand.
The Great Bradley 1911 census
This is an example of the actual form, for those living in the Rectory. Click on the image to see a larger version
The 1911 census for England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April, 1911. The count included all individual households, plus institutions such as prisons, workhouses, naval vessels and merchant vessels, and it also attempted to make an approximate count of the homeless.
What is in the 1911 census?
In common with the censuses that preceded it, it recorded the following information:
- Where an individual lived
- Their age at the time of the census
- Who (what relatives) they were living with
- Their place of birth
- Occupation
- Who their guests were on the night of the census
- The number of servants they had (if any)
- Whether they were an employee or employer
- Details of nationality
- Duration of current marriage
In response to government concerns the 1911 census also asked additional, more specific questions to each household, about fertility in marriage and occupational data.
The 1911 census documents
Prior to 1911, the household schedules were destroyed once the details had been transferred into the enumerators’ summary books. But for the 1911 census both sets of records have been preserved, which means you can see the census documents filled out in your ancestor’s own hand (complete with mistakes and additional comments), in addition to the edited version in the enumerators’ summary.
The household schedules (original household pages), plus their transcriptions can be viewed. Images of the associated enumerator's summary book pages are included in the price of viewing a household schedule image.
The 1911 census and the suffragettes
Frustrated with the government’s refusal to grant women the vote, a large number of women boycotted the 1911 census by refusing to be counted.
There were two forms of protest. In the first, the women (or their husband) refused to fill in the form, often recording their protest to the enumerator. In the second, women evaded the census by staying away from their home for the whole night.
In both cases, any details relating to individual women in the households will be missing from the census.
For the family historian the active refusal to fill in the form (accompanied by a protest statement) at least registers the presence of a woman/women in the household, whereas the women who evaded the count are simply untraceable via the census.
The exact number of women who boycotted the census is not known, though some people have estimated that it may be as many as several thousand.
The Great Bradley 1911 census
This is an example of the actual form, for those living in the Rectory. Click on the image to see a larger version
1911 Census Form
The links below are to a Word document that show the transcript of the enumerators forms for Great Bradley. They are grouped by households. The form records what the householders put down - hence some of the idiosyncratic spelling
| the_1911_census_for_great_bradley.doc |