There has been a census in England and Wales every ten years since 1801, excluding 1941.  Censuses taken before 1841, however, do not contain individual names of residents.

Each head-of-household was given a form to complete, recording who was in their household during the period Sunday night to Monday morning.  On Monday morning, census enumerators collected the household schedules.  If the forms were not completed properly, the enumerator was supposed to ask for missing information.  Not every enumerator was careful or consistent in his work.

Once the forms were collected, enumerators transferred the information into a book, which was transmitted to authorities responsible for specific jurisdictions.  Original forms were not kept.  The census documents available today are microfilmed copies of the enumerator's books maintained at the UK National Archives in Kew, Surrey.

The census date for 1861 was Sunday night, April 7th.

Please note the details in this transcription may differ from other on-line/CD-ROM indices. The Webmistress checked every entry against original images to ensure accuracy.

Birthplace locations are Glamorgan, Wales, unless otherwise noted.