Experienced UK Genealogist...can you help me with an enquiry...thanks?

Question:Does anyone know if there was a problem with the 1841 census for the parish of Ripon. I need to trace someone living in one of the villages in 1841 but have read somewhere that parts of the census may have been missing?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Does anyone know if there was a problem with the 1841 census for the parish of Ripon. I need to trace someone living in one of the villages in 1841 but have read somewhere that parts of the census may have been missing?!

Quite a few parts of many censuses have been water damaged. However it depends on the village. Some villages have been spelt wrong etc. Names also are spelt wrong frequently. I would say about 40-50% of all my tree have been wrongly recorded on censuses. Depends which village. Need more details. I live near Ripon too so I know the area.

According to Ancestry, there are problems with some areas around Ripon in 1841, which include the following missing areas:

Piece 1286 (Yorkshire)

Wapentake: Claro (Lower Division)
Parish: Ripon (part)
Township: Bewerley
Hamlet: Greenhow Hill (part)

Wapentake: Claro (Lower Division)
Parish: Ripon (part)
Township: Dacre
Hamlet: Hayshaw

Sadly, it's not that uncommon for one reason or another. Most of my ancestors went missing from the 1851 census in Manchester (flood damage) and most of the Dunmow district of Essex in 1851 as well (god knows where these went but they're not there!).

Thee could be some bits missing, or even just unreadable, just remember the the ages of adults given on the 1841 census were rounded up to the nearest 5 so a 21 year old would be shown as 25, and relationships were not shown either. I would cross reference with the IGI (www.familysearch.org)

If you use the 1841 census you might want to try www.lostcousins.com) this site is free to use and uses the 1841 & 1881 UK census and the 1880 census for Canada and the USA to link researchers.

Good luck and good hunting

I have had a look at the census returns for Pately Bridge and Dacre Bank, yes the opening page for Pately Bridge does look damaged, Dacre Bank looks fine to me.
If you would like a hand to search the census if you post the persons name and age and I will see what I can find for you, I am using www.ancestry.co.uk I can email the document to you if I find what you are looking for, I have your email address from the email you sent me, I'm still working on that one.
Hope this helps.

(The info below is what is given at the bottom of the page for the 1841 UK census at www.ancestry.com. If you had mentioned a name or two, I could have looked them up for you, even though I don't live in the UK)

About 1841 England Census
This database contains an every name index to the 1841 England Census with links to images of the original census returns. Information available in this database includes: name, age, estimated birth year, relationship to head of household.

For more information about this database, click here.
The 1841 Census for England was taken on the night of 6 June 1841. The following information was requested:

Name of street, place, road, etc.

House number or name

Name of each person that had spent the night in that household

Age*

Sex (indicated by which column the age is recorded in)

Profession or occupation

Where born**

*The ages of people over 15 years old were usually rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Therefore, someone who was actually 24 years would have their age listed as 20, and someone who was actually 27 years old would have their age listed as 25.

**The "Where Born" column only asked two questions - 1) whether born in same county, and 2) whether born in Scotland, Ireland, or Foreign Parts. Possible answers and abbreviations to question #1 include: Yes (Y), No, (N), or Not Known (NK). For question #2, the following abbreviations were used: Scotland (S), Ireland (I), and Foreign Parts (F).

Enumeration forms were distributed to all households a couple of days before census night and the complete forms were collected the next day. All responses were to reflect the individual's status as of 6 June 1841 for all individuals who had spent the night in the house. People who were traveling or living abroad were enumerated at the location where they spent the night on census night. All of the details from the individual forms were later sorted and copied into enumerators' books, which are the records we can view images of today. The original householder's schedules from 1841 to 1901 were destroyed.

The clerks who compiled and reviewed the census data made a variety of marks on the returns. Unfortunately, many of these tally marks were written over personal information and some fields, such as ages, can be difficult to read as a result. More useful marks include a single slash between households within a building and a double slash separating households in separate buildings.

Color Images of Hard-to-Read Pages:

A major problem with the 1841 census is that it was written in pencil rather than pen. This has resulted in many faded pages which have proved unreadable on microfilm. To rectify this problem Ancestry has gone back to the original census manuscripts at The National Archives (TNA) and digitised many of these hard-to-read pages. The result is hi-resolution color images with writing that is now more clearly visible.

Pages digitised as color images were chosen from documents identified by TNA as damaged or as exceptionally difficult to read.

The following is a list of piece numbers that include some color images:

5 227 303 309 349 549 695 827 1028 1096 1206
186 231 305 310 443 588 731 972 1029 1131 1209
187 232 307 323 500 609 820 998 1066 1134 1321
203 242 308 344 523 675 826 1003 1085 1186 1416

How the census forms are organized:

For the 1841 census parishes were organized into hundreds (and into wapentakes in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire) rather than registration districts as in the later censuses. The 1841 census returns were organized alphabetically according to county, hundred, and parish names. Consecutive piece numbers were assigned to hundreds or parts of hundreds for reference purposes. You will find the piece number on a paper strip on the side or bottom of every image, following the PRO class number (HO 107). There may be hundreds of pieces within a county.

Pieces are comprised of books which in turn are comprised of enumeration districts. It is the book number, rather than the enumeration district number that is important to researchers for referencing. The book number is shown on the paper strip on the side or bottom of every image following the piece number.

In addition to the piece and book numbers, each page of the returns includes a folio number and/or a page number. The folio number was stamped onto every other page before microfilming and is located in the upper right hand corner of the image. Folio numbering usually starts over at the beginning of each book. The page number is part of the printed form and is found on every page, usually at the top centre. The page numbers start over at the beginning of every enumeration district. A full reference number for a record in the 1841 census includes the PRO class number (HO 107), the piece number, the book number, and the folio number.

Some of the above information was taken from "Chapter 6: Census Returns," Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History by Mark D. Herber (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1998) and Using Census Returns, Pocket Guides to Family History by David Annal (Richmond, Surrey: Public Record Office, 2002).

Known problems with the 1841 Census:

The following table shows piece numbers where part or all of the piece is missing, as well as piece numbers that were not used.

Piece --County --Parishes and Hamlets
89 Cheshire Parish:Malpas (part)
Townships:
Agden
Bickerton
Bickley
Bradley
Broxton
Bulkeley Chidlow
Cholmondley
Chorlton
Cuddington
Duckington
Edge Egerton
Hampton
Larkton
Macefen
Malpas
Newton-juxta-Malpas Oldcastle
Overton
Stockton
Tushingham
Wichaugh
Wigland
Parish: Shocklach
Townships:
Caldecott
Church Shocklach
Parish: Shocklach
Township:
Oviatt Shocklach
Parish: Threapwood

192 Derbyshire Parish: Walton-upon-Trent
404 Southampshire Parish: Winnall
465 Kent Parish: Bishopsbourne
467 Kent Parish: Herne Bay
469 Kent Parish: Reculver
470 Kent Parish: Sturry
Parish: Swalecliffe
Parish: Westbere
Parish: Seasalter Liberty
Parish: Whitstable
Township:
Harwich

471 Kent Parish: Ashford (part)
475 Kent Parish: Smarden
668 Middlesex Parish: St Luke
Townships:
West Finsbury
Golden-Lane Old Street
Whitecross-Street

680 Middlesex Parish: Paddington
690 Middlesex Parish: Kensington (part)
Townships:
Brompton
Kensall Green (part)

797 Northamptonshire Parish: Blatherwycke
Parish: Bulwick
Parish: Bulwick Short Leys
Parish: Deene
Township: Deenethorpe
Parish: Great Weldon
Township: Little Weldon

798 Northamptonshire Parish: Weedon-Beck
809 Northamptonshire Parish: Haselbeech
864 Piece number not used
890 Oxfordshire Parish: Yarnton or Yarington
942 Somerset Parish: Mells
1074 Surrey Parish: Walton-upon-Thames
Hamlet: Hersham
Parish: Weybridge

1075 Surrey Parish: Malden
1172 Wiltshire Parish: Hardenhuish
1174 Wiltshire Parish: Downton
Townships:
Charlton
Church
Downton East Downton
Hamptworth
Wick & Walton
Witherington
Parish: No-Man's Land

1176 Wiltshire Parish: Patney
1184 Wiltshire Parish:
Bishop's Cannings
Townships:
Bourton & Easton
Chittoe Coase
Horton
St James or Southbroom
Parish:
West or Bishop's Lavington
Townships:
Fiddington
Littleton Pannell

1186 Wiltshire Parish: Allcannings
Townships:
Allington
Etchilhampton
Fullaway or Fullway
Parish: Alton-Barnes
Parish: Beeching-Stoke
Parish: Churton or Cherrington
Township:
Conock
Parish: East or Market Lavington
Township:
Easterton
Parish: Marden
Parish: St Bernard Stanton
Parish: Urchfont or Erchfont
Townships:
Eastcott
Lydeway
Stert
Wedhampton

1286 Yorkshire Wapentake: Claro (Lower Division)
Parish: Ripon (part)
Township: Bewerley
Hamlet: Greenhow Hill (part)
Wapentake: Claro (Lower Division)
Parish: Ripon (part)
Township: Dacre
Hamlet: Hayshaw

Please choose a county:
To browse census images, click on a county link below. Subsequent screens will allow you to choose a civil parish and an enumeration district.

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Buckinghamshire-- Hertfordshire-- Shropshire
Cambridgeshire-- Huntingdonshire-- Somerset
Cheshire-- Kent -- Staffordshire
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Cumberland -- Leicestershire -- Surrey
Derbyshire -- Lincolnshire-- Sussex
Devon -- Middlesex -- Warwickshire
Dorset-- Norfolk-- Westmorland
Durham -- Northamptonshire -- Wiltshire
Essex -- Northumberland-- Worcestershire
Gloucestershire-- Nottinghamshire-- Yorkshire

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