Ecclesiastical census returns of churches and chapels, endowments, sittings, estimated attendances on 30 March 1851 and average numbers during the preceding twelve months.
The Ecclesiastical Census was taken at the same time as the 1851 Census of England and Wales, to ascertain the available provision for religious worship, and how many people actually attended. It was not comprehensive, because it relied on the local knowledge of the regular census enumerators to identify each place of worship and deliver a schedule, which meant that some small nonconformist sects could easily be missed. Also, there was no penalty for non-compliance, unlike the population census.
Parish and hamlet names stated on the forms can vary. Place names found in the 1851 census returns may supporting searching.
In a few cases the papers include returns of the educational census, 1851. A few individual returns have been found in some London districts, but there appear to be complete sets for HO 129/494 Keighley and HO 129/495 Todmorden. These have been catalogued as 'educational census', not by the names of specific places or schools.
Most records within this series are available to download as digital microfilm.
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