I wrote about the 1891 census online late last year as the first counties appeared within the Ancestry databases. (View article online.) This summer the project is coming to completion, and it is time to take a second look. The first search I describe below is an example of what is now possible using automated research tools such as this. The second highlights a feature I particularly appreciate.

My First Search
In the past couple of years I have done some searches on behalf of a neighbor. His father was born in June 1889 and baptized a month later in a Roman Catholic Church in Exeter. Numerous possible entries in civil registration records have been checked, without success. It may be that the birth was never registered because the couple was not married.

Waiting for the online version of the 1891 census seemed like a good idea; the little boy was 22 months old at the time of the census. Not long ago I carried out a search for a John Lawton aged one, and repeated it setting the age at two. I searched in England and Wales separately, so there were four searches in all. This produced twenty-nine results—few enough that I could look at them all. I cannot recognize my quarry among these, which means that, a) they were out of England on census night, b) handwriting is a problem, c) use of an alias may be involved, or d) there are indexing errors. Although this may be a negative result that requires other tactics; but, it is important to recall that a search of all England, or even two or three counties, was impossible a year ago.

My Second Search
Carrying out this search, where I needed to specify full name, country, and age, I discovered that the search goes more quickly with one particular search box. You may have already noticed that the fields of the search box vary depending on where you are in the Ancestry site. Using the www.ancestry.co.uk site, I selected the "Search Records" tab and U.K. Census under "Browse Records" on the right. There are plenty of fields here so you can construct the best search. Below the box are links to the census for each of the geographic regions: England, Wales, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.

I used these links to go browsing, selecting England, then Sussex, then finally the parish of Alfriston. This put me on page 1 of 21 pages of images, and I realized that with my DSL connection it would not take long to read through them. My purpose was to fill out the story of the village gleaned from reading a short history (published in 1899) that I found at a garage sale. I visited Alfriston about four years ago and had dinner at the inn described in the book.

I checked out the family of the author (Pagden by name) and the residents of two properties mentioned in the book, Deans Place and Frog Firle (what a wonderful name!). Deans Place apparently had a ghost and after 1827 went through a number of owners; the author does not imply these facts were linked. The census told me that Daelman F. Gade (25, born in Dulwich), his wife Florence (23, born in Brooklyn N.Y.) and a nephew Alphonse Gade were living here in 1891. Daelman was living on his own means. I wondered why the author omitted the lady from Brooklyn, surely something unusual in a rural village in 1891. The inhabitants of Frog Firle were Emily Holmes (of independent means), four young nephews, a companion and a servant. I found three members of the author's family as well. Scanning families, occupations, and occasional notes by the enumerator gives you a lot of information.

I returned to the index and searched for the people noted. I was very interested to see that a search failed to produce any Pagdens in Alfriston. The reason is an indexing error. The "How to Use the 1891 U.K. Census" advice at the site warns you this is possible and advises trying other searches. I tried looking for the first name, Emma, which I noted when reading the pages. The error was explained: indexed as Payden not Pagden.

Search Summary
A few hours of experimentation reveal much about searching. Added facts generally reduce the number of results (sometimes you want this). Wild cards can be used for first names and surnames, and Soundex is another surname option. You can search for just a first name or without any name (another way to get round an indexing error if you know the exact age and location). The only rule is that searches must be for the details provided in the list of matches: facts about census location, birthplace location, names, gender, and age. Although you cannot search for the name of a house or farm (i.e., an address) and you cannot search for an occupation, remember that you can browse. This is a big help in getting around errors and in getting to know a parish.

All in all, a useful morning was spent getting reacquainted with the 1891 census index and images. I recommend that you take time to experiment.

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of Your English Ancestry (2nd ed, 1998) and Your Scottish Ancestry (1997) and she is a regular contributor to several journals including Genealogical Computing. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has lectured at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is the president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.