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Census returns
Census returns - which should be distinguished
from census abstracts or census tables - are documents which
provide a detailed listing, household by household, of all the
inhabitants of every community. The original enumerators' returns
are deposited with the Public Record Office in London, but Calderdale
District Archives hold microfilm copies of all the local returns
from 1841 to 1901, and transcripts of census returns covering
certain local areas for specific years are available in the Local
History Collection, held at the Central Library, Halifax, West
Yorkshire. Later census returns are on closed access for 100
years from the date of creation.
Format
Each census is arranged by township, then
by street or building. The 1841 census comprises:
- The name of the street, house number
or house name
- the name of each person in each household
- That person's age
- Sex
- Profession or trade
- Country of birth. Successive census
returns yield more information still, such as the actual place
of birth.
Use
The census is can be used in a variety of
ways by the social and economic historian, as well as by the
genealogist and biographer. It enables the researcher to investigate
in some detail the social and demographic composition of relatively
small communities during the second half of the 19th century.
Value
The main limitation of the census is is that
it is occasionally inaccurate in points of detail, and therefore
needs to be used with some caution. It is also sometimes incomplete,
as some members of individual households may have been away from
home on the day of the census. Nevertheless, the margin of error
in the census is unlikely to invalidate any general conclusions
in the investigation of even small communities, and it offers
the most detailed and comprehensive guide available for the study
of key aspects of 19th-century society.
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