Catalogue description General Register Office: 1911 Census Schedules

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Details of RG 14
Reference: RG 14
Title: General Register Office: 1911 Census Schedules
Description:

Enumerators' schedules of returns made by heads of households for the 1911 census, which include the names, age, sex, occupation and parish and county of birth of individual members of the population of England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Also included in this series are returns from ships of the Royal Navy at sea and in ports abroad.

Electronic images of these records can be searched online through our partner website.

The 1911 census was the first census where the surviving records are the schedules (forms) completed and signed by the head of the household. (For the 1901 and earlier censuses, the surviving records are the enumerators' copy books.) They contain an address and a schedule number. The schedules are divided into sixteen columns:

  • Name and Surname.
  • Relationship to Head of Family.
  • Age (Males).
  • Age (Females).
  • Marital condition.
  • Number of years married (present marriage) - Married women only.
  • Children born to present marriage.
  • Children still living.
  • Children who have died.
  • Occupation.
  • Industry or service with which worker is connected.
  • Employment status.
  • Whether working at home.
  • Birthplace.
  • Nationality - if born in a Foreign Country.
  • Infirmity.

The most notable change in the 1911 census compared to earlier censuses is the inclusion of information regarding fertility in the schedules. Married women were asked to indicate how long they had been married and how many children they had (from their current marriage) living and dead.

There are also Schedules for:

  • Institutions (workhouses, hospitals, hotels, schools, etc).
  • Shipping (merchant vessels).
  • Military establishments (barracks, training schools, British Army overseas, etc).
  • Royal Naval vessels (in home ports).

Date: 1911
Arrangement:

The 1911 Census records are arranged in two different series: bound volumes of Census Schedules (RG 14) and Enumerators' Summary Books (RG 78). Each Enumerator Summary Book has a corresponding set of Schedules.

The link between the two sets of documents is through a unique three-part reference number which reflects the arrangement of the records:

Registration District Number (RD).Registration Sub-District Number (RS).Enumeration District Number (ED).

These numbers are written on the front of the Enumerator's Summary Book and on the spine of the corresponding bound volume of Schedules. Each unique reference number corresponds to a distinct piece reference in the series. For example, RD 444 RS 4 ED 7. The Enumeration District information is arranged into three sections:

Local sub-divisions (Civil Parish, Ecclesiastical Parish, Borough or Urban District, Ward of Borough or Urban District, Rural District and Parliamentary Borough or Division).Boundary.Contents (for example, a list of the streets).
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

General Register Office, 1836-1970
Physical description: 34998 volume(s)
Restrictions on use: In December 2006 the Information Commissioner's Office ruled that access should be given to the 1911 census, but that personally sensitive information should remain closed for a full 100 years. Sensitive information was digitally obscured or 'redacted' for the 2009 partial release. The date of the full release of these records was January 2012.
Access conditions: Closed until 2012
Selection and destruction information: The original household schedules for the 1911 census were selected for permanent preservation and the enumerators' copy books were destroyed.
Administrative / biographical background:

Before 1911 the information contained in the actual Schedules (returns) was bound together with the Enumerators' Books.

From 1911, when machine methods of processing returns were introduced, the Schedules were compiled separately from the Enumerators' Summary Books. The Register General held the household Schedules and the Enumerators' Summary Books.

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