England Census Records -- Finding and Using Indexes

England England Census

Printed Surname Indexes
For many years prior to the Internet age, the family history societies throughout England created surname indexes to the census returns for their counties and regions of interest, and sold them to the public. Some indexes are to specific towns or parishes, but many indexes cover more than one parish or whole registration districts within a county. The indexes were often published as a series.

Some indexes are to surnames only, and some indexes include given names and more details. All indexes include the series code number, enumeration district number, and page or folio numbers needed to find individuals in the census returns.

For a list of printed surname indexes, look in:


 * Gibson, Jeremy, and Elizabeth Hampson, Editors. Marriage and Census Indexes for Family Historians. 8th ed. Baltimore [Maryland] : Genealogical Pub. Co., c2001. (FHL book 942 D27gjh,)

Printed census surname indexes are found in archives and libraries throughout England. In addition, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, has a large collection of printed census indexes. They are listed in the Family History Library Catalog. Use the:


 * Place Search, for the name of a county or parish, and the subject of Census - Indexes
 * Author Search for the name of the family history society that published the index

Online Surname Indexes
There are several different websites that provide access to indexed images of the censuses. The 1841 and subsequent censuses are all indexed and can be searched online by name, age, birthplace, or locality. The indexes can be problematic in that names can be spelled in various ways and indexers sometimes failed to interpret the spellings correctly. If you cannot find a person it means you need to vary your search parameters. The information in an index may be incorrect or incomplete. If you believe your ancestor was in a particular census area, search the census even if your ancestor is not in the index.