Earliest Occurrences of Surnames in Family Tree

Notes on Census Records

The Census in England is taken every ten years and has been since 1801, the only exception being during World War II (1941). Most pre-1841 censuses were not kept and therefore only a few pre-1841 census returns exist.

The census was taken on the following dates:
10 March 1801; 27 May 1811; 28 May 1821; 30 May 1831; 7 June 1841; 30 March 1851;  April 1861; 2 April 1871; 3 April 1881; 5 April 1891; 31 March 1901; 2 April 1911; 19 June 1921; 26 April 1931 (destroyed in WWII); (1941: not compiled due to WWII)

The number introducing tables of census information is the Public Record Office reference.

In some cases, forenames entered on census forms are the names by which the person was commonly known; this may not be the first name (e.g. the 1901 census has Emily Alma GARDNER recorded as ‘Alma GARDNER’, as she was normally known).

Welney straddles the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, the county boundary running down the centre of the main road, so possibly no distinction is made between these counties.

1600s

1700s

1800s

1900s