The first official UK Census was taken in 1801. Thereafter, with
the
exception of 1941, it was taken at 10 year intervals and was conducted
for all the population as at midnight on the dates listed.
The censuses taken from 1801 to 1831 were head counts only, in most
places. No names, ages, occupations, etc were recorded.
The Federation of FHS book, "Local Census Listings" lists, county
by county, some useful censes taken before 1841. The 1811, 1821 and
1831 census of Alderley gives names and ages, as does the 1821 census
of Rosthern (High Leigh, Tatton, Over Tabley, Millington and
parts of Agden and Bollington, townships only).
Of greater interest are the censes of 1841 onwards.
The dates of the censes are:-
1821 - 28th May
1831 - 30th May
1841 - 6th June
This was the first general census to give names of everyone. Age was
given exactly up to 15. For older people the age was given to the
nearest 5 below (eg age 27 appears as 25, age 50 as 50).
1851 - 30th March -- Relationships to head of household or place of
birth were first
included.
1861 - 7th April
1871 - 2nd April
1881 - 3rd April
1891 - 5th April
1901 - 31st March
See http://www.pro.gov.uk/census/default.htm
The 100 Year Rule means that the census results cannot be released
until 100 years have expired. Here are some to look forward to:-
1911 - 31st March
1921 - 19th June
1931 - 26th April - destroyed by fire during WW2.
1941 - Census was not taken as WW2 was on at the time.
1951 - 30 March
2001 - 29 April
Extracted from “The Official UK Census”
Compiled by Norman Buckley and published as a web page.