Census Day 2021

Today is Census Day and you should already have received the information that will help you complete it.

Like all U.K. census, it will be protected by the 100 year rule. Historians and genealogists are looking forward to the imminent release of the 1921 census due in 2022.

A census in England has been taken every year since 1841 (with the understandable exception of 1941). The census has evolved over time. The most recent available, the 1911 census, was the first to be completed by the head of the household rather than someone knocking at the door to ask questions. It also records length of marriage, how many children had been born and how many were still living.

The census is a fascinating document for family researchers and historians alike and also a great way of discovering who was living in your house at the time.

All houses, large and small took part in the census as well as pubs, hotels, hospitals and gaols.

The Lambarde family were at home at Bradbourne House. Their return lists family members and servants alike from governess, cook, and maids of various descriptions.

Old soldier, William Hayward and his wife and family of Buckhurst Avenue were all at home, the census giving an idea of how cramped some houses were. Of course, 1911 was just a few years before the outbreak of war and the family would lose two sons, Percy and Albert.

This census form shows Sevenoaks pub, The Anchor. Landlady Nellie Grace Wells ran the establishment and appears with her children and various lodgers who were resident on that day. Her daughter, Grace, would later take over the licence after her mother’s death in the early 1920s.

As you complete the census, you might take a moment and wonder about the stories of those previous residents who did so over a hundred years.

By Mathew Ball