“Bringing YOUR ancestors to YOU, free of
The Jolly family from Ladock
1891 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!
General Instructions to the Enumerator
Immediately after the completion of the
(1). Arrange and number the Householders’ Schedules
and other Schedules in such order that all those relating to
one Civil Parish, one Sanitary District, one Ecclesiastical
Parish, or other local sub-division, follow each other.
(2). Copy the Schedules very Legibly in
Ink into this Enumeration Book, in accordance with
the following directions:—
Insert first, in the spaces at the top of the page, the
name of the Civil Parish, Municipal Borough, Ward of
Municipal Borough, Urban Sanitary District, Town or Village,
or Hamlet, Rural Sanitary District, Parliamentary Borough or
Division, and Ecclesiastical Parish or District in which the
houses referred to on that page are situated. No Schedule is
to be entered on a page unless if belongs to each of the
local sub divisions named in the Heading. See also
Instruction No. 10.
In the first column, write the No of the Schedule
you are about to copy, commencing with No 1, in the second
column the name of the Road, Street, Square, &c, in which
the house is situated, and the No. of the house, or
any distinctive name by which it is known; then insert in the
third column the figure 1 for an Inhabited House, and copy
from the Schedule into the other columns all the particulars
concerning the persons returned therein, without any
omission, or any abbreviation except those authorised in the
Instruction at the foot of this page, taking especial care to
enter the ages of males and females in
their proper columns.
Enter in the same manner the contents of all the other
Schedules, in strict numerical order.
Under the name of the last entered person in each
house draw a strong double line, as in the
example on the opposite page, to separate the inmates from
those of the house next following; and where there is more
than one occupier in the same house, draw a single
line to distinguish the separate families, as in the example.
[Note:— The occupier of a
separate tenement, although living alone without wife or
family, must be treated as a separate family.]
If you have enumerated any persons in Canal Boats or
Barges, enter the Schedules for Vessels in the same
manner as the Householders’ Schedules, stating in col.
3 the locality in which the boats, &c, were
If you have obtained information and noted it in your
Memorandum Book, respecting persons not dwelling in houses
but in Barns, Sheds, Caravans, &c., the particulars
should be entered under the proper Road, Lane, or other
locality, in making up the totals at the foot of that page,
however, the Barns, Sheds, &c., must not be counted as
Where you have to insert an uninhabited house, or a house
building, do this by writing in the fourth column “1
U,” or “1 B,” on a distinct line, taking
care to omit none which are noted in your Memorandum Book.
When two or more houses, uninhabited or building, occur
together, insert the total number, thus:— “3
U,” “2 B,” as the case may be.
Insert in col. 5 against the name of each occupier the
number of rooms occupied if less than five.
The contents of columns 11 to 14 should be accurately
copied from columns 6 to 9 of the Schedules without any
omission, alteration or abbreviation.
At the bottom of each page, on the line for that purpose,
enter the total number of houses in that page, as in
the example. If the statement respecting any inhabited house
is continued from one page to another, that house will be
reckoned in the total of the houses in the page on which the
first name is entered but not again in the following
page. Enter also on the line at the foot of the page the
number of tenements with less than 5 rooms, and the total
When all the Schedules belonging to the Civil Parish,
Municipal Borough, Ward of Municipal Borough, Urban Sanitary
District, Town or Village, or Hamlet, Rural Sanitary
District, Parliamentary Borough or Division, Ecclesiastical
Parish or District, named in the heading have been entered,
write across the page. “End of the Civil Parish of
———,” “End of the Municipal
Borough, Ward of Municipal Borough, Urban Sanitary District,
Town or Village, or Hamlet, Rural Sanitary District,
Parliamentary Borough or Division, Ecclesiastical Parish or
District of ———.” The rest of the
page must then be left blank, and the following Schedule must
be entered on the first line of the next page. On the printed
Example on page iii.
Having satisfied yourself that all your Schedules have been
correctly copied into your Book, fill up the Summary Tables on
pages iv. And v., and sign the Declaration on page vi.
Abbreviations to be used by the Enumerator
Road, Street, &c—Write “Rd.” for
Road; “St.” for Street;
“Pl.” for Place; “Sq.” for
Square; “Ter.” for Terrace.
Names—Write the First Christian Name in full;
initials, or the first letters of the other Christian
Names of a person who has more than one must be inserted.
When the same surname occurs several times in
succession, write “Do” for all such surnames
except the first, which must be written in full.
Where the name or any other particular is not known
and cannot be ascertained, “n.k.” should be
entered in its place.
In the column “Relation to Head of Family" write
“Head” for head of family;
“Daur.” for daughter;
“Serv.” for servant.
In the column “Condition as to Marriage”
write—“M” for married;
“S” for unmarried; “Wid.”
for widow; or “Widr.” for widower.
In the columns for “age” write the number
of years in figures very distinctly in the proper column
for “Males” or “Females” as the case may
be, in the case of children under One Year of age, as the age
must be expressed in months, write “Mo,”
distinctly after the figures.