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1871 Cornwall Census
Frequently Asked Questions
This page has been taken from the MyTrees.com
web site
and is included in this web as a guide to all who are searching there Cornish
roots. Before you start your search it would be advisable to read the article.
To
search the 1871 Cornwall Census, click
here.
QUESTION:
What is the 1871 Cornwall Census?
ANSWER: Cornwall is located on the Cornish Peninsula in south west England. It
is bounded by Devonshire on the east, by the Bristol Channel on the north, the
Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the English Channel on the south. In ancient
times the Cornish tin and copper mines were celebrated. In fact the Cornish have
been extracting tin from Cornwall for at least 3,000 years. At first this was
surface mining. By the 19th Century many of the mines were as deep as 5,000
feet. Thus creating the extreme hazards of large amounts of ground water and
heat. Prices on the world markets were also unstable leaving the Cornish miner
no other choice but to migrate to other countries where their mining know how
gave them an advantage. From 1830 to 1900 320,000 people moved from Cornwall.
From 1801 the United Kingdom has taken censuses of its people every ten years.
The Cornwall Census taken Sunday, 2 April 1871 enumerated the people in the
state of Cornwall, England. It provides a valuable link between registered
births, marriages and deaths after 1 July 1837 and locally held parish registers
of baptism, marriage and burial, which theoretically date from 1538.
QUESTION:
What information was included in the 1871 Census?
ANSWER: From 1801 to 1831 the censuses were simply head counts with no personal
information on individuals recorded (except in exceptional cases). Beginning
with the 1841 Census, personal information on individuals was recorded. The 1871
Census recorded the following details about each individual:
- The Name of the Person
- Their Position in the Family
- Their Marital status
- Their age at the time of the Census
- Their occupation.
- Their place of birth
QUESTION: What do the abbreviations mean?
ANSWER: Most of the abbreviations extracted from the 1871 Cornwall Census we
have expanded to the full words. However, there may be a few that we missed. So
here are the abbreviations and their meaning:
- WI-----------------wife
- DA----------------daughter
- GD----------------granddaughter
- GS----------------grandson
- HD----------------head
- Lgr----------------lodger
- M------------------married
- U------------------unmarried
- NP----------------nephew
- NC----------------niece
- SCH---------------Scholar
- Sis----------------sister
- SO----------------son
- SV or Ser--------servant
- SL or SOLW-----son in law (this might mean stepson or something different
than the modern day usage of in-law)
- AG LAB---------agricultural Laborer
- FRMR-----------farmer
If you find other abbreviations not listed here and you would like to know what
they mean please email feedback@mytrees.com and we will research them.
QUESTION: Why can't I find my ancestor in the Census?
ANSWER: Here are a few reasons you may not find your ancestor in the 1871
Cornwall Census.
- 1. You may be using the wrong spelling for the last name. Some of the
names were difficult to read, for instance, Hallamore was extracted as
Hallanan. Our search engine is looking for an exact spelling of the surname
you entered.
- 2. You are using the full first name and the index may contain an
abbreviation for the first name. Such as Tho for Thomas, Jas for James, Wm
for William, Benj for Benjamin, Edwd for Edward, etc. Try searching with
just the first initial of the first name.
- 3. Your ancestor may have moved from the region before the Census was
taken. The beginning date for the Census was Sunday April 2nd 1871, but it
would have taken many months to complete.
- 4. Your ancestors may have lived in close proximity to Cornwall but were
enumerated with one of the other English states.
- 5. The extractor may have made a typographical error in the entry of the
age. If this happens it will usually only effect one person in the family
and the rest of the family data will be correct. Try searching for other
members of the family instead.
QUESTION: Who did this extraction?
ANSWER: The 1871 Cornwall, England census, was extracted through the volunteer
work of Richard and June Ross.
QUESTION: How do I see the rest of my 480 hits?
ANSWER: The search engine used for the Cornwall Census will only show the first
200 hits. If your search returned more than 200 hits you will have to narrow
your search by reducing the date range or by adding a given name or initial to
the search criteria.
To search the 1871 Cornwall Census, click
here.
For additional information about other Censuses for England and Wales see: GenDocs-Census
Returns for England & Wales.
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Questions or problems regarding this web site should be
directed to george@penhalvean.freeserve.co.uk
Last modified: Sunday October 22, 2006
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