Cornwall Online Census Project
“Bringing YOUR ancestors to YOU, free of
charge!”
Cap'n Henry & Loveday Hancock in the back
with 2 of their children in front
1841 Enumerators' Instructions
These are the instructions to enumerators contained at the
start of every booklet. They are presented here to illustrate
what the census should contain, which may help you interpret
what you see. It is true that by no means all enumerators
followed these instructions!
DIRECTIONS
Respecting the manner in which Entries may be made in the
Enumeration Schedule
After “City or Borough of” write the name,
if the District is in a City or Borough; if not, draw a line
through those words, or through whichever of the two the District
does not belong to. After “Parish or Township
of” write the name; if there is no Township in the
Parish, draw a line through “Township ;” if it
is a Township, write the name of the Township and draw a line
through “Parish.” If it is Extra-Parochial,
draw a line through “parish or Township of,”
and write “Extra-Parochial” over those words,
and after it the name.
In the column headed “Place,” write the
name of the house (if it has a name), or of the street or other
part of the town, or of the village, hamlet, or extra-parochial
place in which it stands, opposite to the mark denoting each
house, or the first house in the street, &c., and write
“do.” opposite to every other in the same
street, &c.
“Houses.”—Insert
houses uninhabited or building in the manner shown in the
Example, writing “1 U” or “1
B,” as the case may be, in the proper column,
opposite to the inhabited house to which each stands nearest.
Every house which is unoccupied at the time of your visit and is
believed not to have been slept in the night before, may be
inserted as uninhabited. New houses, not yet inhabited, may be
inserted as “Building.” Where there is a row
of such houses the total number may be inserted before the letter
B instead of the separate insertion of each.
By “House” is meant Dwelling-House ;
and every building in which any person habitually sleeps must be
considered as a dwelling-house ; but buildings, such as churches
or warehouses, or any others, which were never used or intended
to be used as dwelling-houses, must not be inserted.
“Names of each Person who abode therein the
preceding night.”—Insert, without
distinction or omission, every living person who abode or slept
in each house. Leave no blank spaces between the names, but enter
each immediately after the one preceding it, so that each page
may contain 25. Set down one after the other those who have the
same surname, beginning with the heads of the family, and put no
others between them. As long as the surname is the same do not
repeat it, but write “do.” Where there are
more Christian names than one, as “John William,” or
“Maria Louisa,” write down only the first.
When the person is a Peer or Peeress, the title may be written
instead of the name. The words “Lord,”
“Lady,” “Sir,” “Rt Hon.”
“Hon,” may be put before the names of those to whom
they belong.
If no Christian name has been given to an infant write
“n. k.” for not known, as in the
Example.
If, as may happen in a lodging-house or inn, a person who
slept there the night before, has gone away early and the name is
not known, write “n. k.” where the name should
have been.
At the end of the names of each family draw a line thus / as
in the Example. At the end of the names of the inmates in each
house draw a double line thus //
“Age and Sex.”—Write
the age of each person opposite to the name in one of the two
columns headed “Males” and “Females,”
according to the sex.
Write the age of every person under 15 years of age as it is
stated to you. For persons aged 15 years and upwards, write the
lowest of the term of 5 years within which the age is.
Thus—for Persons aged |
15 years and under 20 write 15 |
35 years and under 40 write 35 |
55 years and under 60 write 55 |
|
20 years and under 25 write 20 |
40 years and under 45 write 40 |
60 years and under 65 write 60 |
|
25 years and under 30 write 25 |
45 years and under 50 write 45 |
65 years and under 70 write 65 |
|
30 years and under 35 write 30 |
50 years and under 55 write 50 |
70 years and under 75 write 70 |
and so on up to the greatest
ages. |
If no more can be ascertained respecting the age of any person
than that the person is a child or is grown up, write
“under 20,” or “above 20,”
as the case may be.
“Profession, Trade, Employment, or of
Independent Means.”—Men, or widows, or
single women, having no profession or calling, but living on
their means, may be inserted as independent, which may be
written shortly, thus “Ind.”
The profession, &c, of wives, or of sons or daughters
living with their husbands or parents, and assisting them, but
not apprenticed or receiving wages, need not be set down.
All persons serving in Her Majesty’s Land service
as officers or privates in the Line, Cavalry, Engineers, or
Artillery, may be entered as “Army,” without
any statement of their rank, adding “H.P.” for
Half-Pay, and “P.” for
Pensioner.
All persons belonging to Her Majesty’s Sea
service, including Marines, may be entered as
“Navy,” Adding “H.P.” for
Half-Pay, and “P.” for
Pensioner.
All domestic servants may be entered as
“M.S.” for Male Servant, or
“F.S..” for Female Servant, without
statement of their particular duties, as whether butler, groom,
gardener, housekeeper, cook, &c., &c.
Insert all other professions, trades, or employments, as they
are described by the parties, or by others on their behalf,
writing “J.” for Journeyman,
“Ap.” for Apprentice, and
“Sh.” for Shopman, after a statement of
the trade of those who are such. “Master” need
not be insterted; everyone one will be so considered who is not
entered as journeyman or apprentice.
Time may be saved by writing the following words, shortly
thus, “M..” for Manufacturer,
“m.” for Maker, as “shoe
m.” for Shoemaker, “Cl.” for
Clerk, “Ag. Lab.” for Agricultural
labourer, which may include all farming servants and
labourers in husbandry. Use no other marks or abbreviations but
those herein allowed.
Rank, or any such terms as “Esq.” or
“Gentleman” must not be entered in this
column.
“Where born—Whether in the same
County.”—Write opposite to each name
(except those of Irish, Scotch, or Foreigners,)
“Y.” or “N.” for Yes
or No, as the case may be.
Whether in Scotland, Ireland, or Foreign
parts.—Write in this column, “S.”
for those who were born in Scotland;
“I.” for those born in Ireland; and
“F.” for Foreigners. This latter mark
is to be used only for those who are subjects of some Foreign
State, and not for British subjects who happen to have been born
abroad.
Enter the Totals at the bottom of each page as in the Example,
and enter and add up all the Totals in the summary in the last
page. This may be done at home, and must be written with
ink.
The entries in the pages of the Enumeration Schedule (except
the Totals) may be written with a pencil, which will be furnished
for that purpose. All that is written in the 3 pages following
them must be with ink.
top
Home | Project Details | Table of Contents | | Search
©2006 Cornwall Online Census Project (see here for details)