Census Reviews

Top Reviews

Reproducing the 1841 Census

The 1841 census is always going to give researchers problems, but S&N's greyscale images offer 30% more readable pages.
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The London 1901 Census on CD-ROM

It contains clear images of valuable original records used by genealogists, historians, and social scientists. 200,000 pages have been scanned and recorded onto CD-ROM disks.
READ MORE...

 

Reviews by Date

March 2011

Lancashire 1841 Census (DVD)

This useful seven-DVD set consists of images of the 1841 census enumerators' books for the historic county of Lancashire. This differs from the modern county and includes some towns which are no longer part of Lancashire, such as Warrington and Barrow-in-Furness, as well as the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. READ FULL REVIEW...

January 2011

Jersey 1901 Census & Devon 1857 Gazetteer and Directory

William Humphries reviews this month's data CDs for family historians. READ FULL REVIEW...

November 2009

Lancashire 1861 Census

This four DVD set comprises images of the enumerators' books for the 1861 census of Lancashire, and also includes a places index and street indexes to the larger towns and cities. READ FULL REVIEW...

December 2008

Census: The Expert Guide

Next year the 1911 census will be opened to public inspection: probably the most significant genealogical event since the launch of the 1901 census back in 2002. So this book is very timely, particularly as there are informative chapters discussing the background to the 1911 census and what it is likely to tell you. READ FULL REVIEW...

November 2007

Discover it on disc

If you know where an ancestor lived, parish records, local directories and census returns are good hunting places, and many are now available on CD. Another good source for family historians is wills, and again more have been put on disc recently. READ FULL REVIEW...

October 2007

Lancashire Forebears?

Although The Lancashire 1841 Census Index is intended to be used with S&N's 1841 Lancashire Census Image set, you may search and find basic details from the index alone. It covers the entire Lancashire area. A simple search screen allows you to search by surname with either forename or age. READ FULL REVIEW...

September 2007

Wiltshire 1901 Census

This three CD set contains original pages from the 1901 census of Wiltshire, which have been digitised from microfiche. All Wiltshire as enumerated is included. The images are supplied with finding aids that include area indexes, and a street index for the town of Swindon. READ FULL REVIEW...

1861 Census for Ludlow, Shropshire - Article September '07

Stokesay Castle is situated close to the Welsh border and is said to be the oldest building of its kind in England. Technically Stokesay Castle is more of a fortified manor house than a castle and the original structures were extensively modified by Lawrence de Ludlow. READ FULL REVIEW...

August 2007

1901 Census for Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire - Article August '07

Bletchley Park was the location of the British Intelligence code-cracking team during the Second World War. Also known as 'Station X', this site housed decrypting machines (forerunners of the computer) that were used to crack Axis-coded transmissions, such as the ones created on the famous Enigma machines. READ FULL REVIEW...

July 2007

1871 Census: Huntingdonshire - Article July '07

Hitchingbrooke House sites close to the Huntingdonshire-Cambridgeshire border, and was owned by the Cromwell family until 1627, at which point it was bought by the Montague family. Arguably, one of the most interesting of the Montague family was John the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who held some impressive positions. READ FULL ARTICLE...

June 2007

1871 Census: Newcastle Upon Tyne - Article Jun '07

The Census pieces for Newcastle Upon Tyne cover All Saints, Byker, Jesmond and Heaton (RG10/5094-5108). These are all available in the Northumberland 1871 Census. READ FULL ARTICLE...

Warwickshire 1901 Census

Discover your early 20th century ancestors with one of the latest sets of census images from census specialist British Data Archive. The data is supplied as a series of PDF documents, plus on Disc 1 you get a handy guide to reading the census. READ FULL REVIEW...

March 2007

Shipping at Sea and at Ports Abroad 1861

This compendium of nine discs contains details and information on ships at sea, in ports abroad and at home, including Hospital Ships from the 1861 census. READ FULL REVIEW...

The Census at Sea

To find relatives on board ship at the time of the 1861, 1871 or 1901 Censuses, try the Census ship lists at www.thegenealogist.co.uk, which includes 142,000 entries. READ FULL REVIEW...

Shelton, Staffordshire 1871 Census - March 2007 Article

Novelist Enoch Arnold Bennett in the Staffordshire 1871 Census. He was born in the Potteries, Staffordshire. The Potteries were a group of six towns (later to become Stoke-on-Trent) and Bennett used his experiences in these places as influence for his writings. READ FULL ARTICLE...

January 2007

Bedfordshire 1861 Census - Article Jan '07

An Article about the Daniel Albone in the Bedfordshire 1861 Census. Daniel Albone was born in Biggleswade in 1860, and can be found in the 1861 census for Bedfordshire at the age of only six months. READ FULL ARTICLE...

December 2006

Hitchin, Hertfordshire 1851 Census

The 1851 Census for Hitchin, Hertfordshire includes the records for Knebworth House, the 'stately home of rock', which has welcomed acts such as Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Queen. READ FULL REVIEW...

November 2006

London in 1881

The London 1881 Census set of 41 CDs contains images of the original census sheets, not transcripts, of the London area. Each CD has its own area and alphabetical street index. READ FULL REVIEW...

Suffolk 1851 Census

In the 19th century, a career as a physician wasa highly respected following for a man. Yet it was considered outrageous for any woman to pursue a career in such a traditionally male-dominated profession. READ FULL ARTICLE...

September 2006

NAMES AND PLACES - Kathy Charter takes a journey round some recent CDs

Names and Places - Census Indexes

Past records, census indexes, home counties directories, and more ... READ FULL REVIEW...

Bedfordshire 1841 Census

Set of three CDs containing census information taken from the microfilm of the original pages as written by the census enumerators. The microfilms have been scanned several times to give better quality images. Supplied as PDF files, they cover... READ FULL REVIEW...

June 2006

Staffordshire 1861 Census

The 1861 Staffordshire Census from British Data Archive spreads over 13 CDs of scanned images of the original enumerators books. Handily, they're in PDF files, with bookmarsk to help you find the right section. READ FULL REVIEW...

September 2005

Census Hampshire 1891

New sets of census CDs appear monthly... READ FULL ARTICLE...

Homeland Handbooks- Lynton, Lynmouth

The Homeland Handbooks were a series of official council tourist guides to everything likely to be of interest to a visitor to the area... READ FULL ARTICLE...

February 2005

Census Returns

The 1841 Census contains less useful information for family historians than later ones, but it is nevertheless worth investigating... READ FULL REVIEW...

October 2004

1841 Yorkshire Census

1841 York census image

Many of the graphics didn't show up very well on Stepping Stones original edition of these records, but images are much better on this release... READ FULL REVIEW...

August 2004

Shropshire 1871 Census

Shropshire 1871 Census Set cover

Shropshire 1871 Census Images contains digitized copies of the original pages... READ FULL REVIEW...

May 2004

London Ancestors

London 1851 Census & 1852 Directory pic

As anyone with ancestors in the London area knows, research there can be a nightmare. There are different records offices for the City of London, Westminster, Greater London, parishes in the pre-1888 counties of Surrey and Kent, as well as a multitude of local history libraries... READ FULL REVIEW...

June 2003

London 1901 Census on CD-ROM

London 1901 CD set

British Data Archive is steadily but surely converting all the country's 1901 census returns from their microfilm originals to digital copies. And here is the biggest offering - a 45-CD set of London 1901 census return pages... MORE

Other

Reproducing the Census - 1841 Census Image Quality

greyscale census image

My overall impression of the new CDs was that the greyscale images were much more readable. READ FULL REVIEW...

The London 1891 Census on CD-ROM

census cds

These CD-ROM disks contain approximately 200,000 images of the original census records. Best of all, the manufacturer says that the CD-ROM disks operate on both Windows and Macintosh systems. They will even operate well on older Windows 3.1 systems. In fact, I found that they also work on Linux systems as well... MORE

London & Lancashire 1891 (FGS Forum)

Three DVDs provide images of the 1891 census pages for all of London (covering Public Record Office piece numbers RG12/1541), and another three show Lancashire (RG12/ 2898-3488). These images are also available on CD-ROM in boxed sets containing 38 and 33 disks respectively but the DVD saves a lot of disk swapping... READ FULL REVIEW...

London & Lancashire 1891 (Guild of One-name Studies)

Guild of One-Name Studies logo

How many hours and days have you spent trawling through reels of census microfilm in a windowless, airless basement in the old PRO or in a record office, library or family history society?... MORE

1851 UK Census Extract CD

This CD for use on Windows computers contains the full data from Professor Michael Anderson's sample of the 1851 UK census, together with Barney Tyrwhitt-Drake's analysis and mapping program... READ FULL REVIEW...

The London 1901 Census on CD-ROM (Dick Eastman)

All in all, the London 1901 Census on CD-ROM is an excellent genealogy resource. It contains clear images of valuable original records used by genealogists, historians, and social scientists. 200,000 pages have been scanned and recorded onto CD-ROM disks. This set is a bargain... READ FULL REVIEW...