An Act for ascertaining the Number of the Inhabitants of the Colony of New South Wales in the Year One thousand eight hundred and forty-one, 1840 (4 Victoria Act No. 26) required every householder, employer of servants and proprietor and occupier of land to complete the census schedule on the second day ('or on the days immediately subsequent thereto') of March 1841.

The 1841 Census was more complete than its predecessors, as the population was recorded in police districts, counties and towns. There was a broader tabulation of results which included age groups, conjugal condition (married or unmarried), religious denomination and civil condition. Civil condition provided statistical information on the number of bond (convict) or free males and females in a household, whether they were born in the colony, arrived free, held a ticket of leave, and whether they were in government employment or private assignment.

The Census was taken by specially appointed collectors generally responsible to a Commissioner or a Bench of Magistrates, the collector completed printed forms, known as Form ‘A’ for each household in the allotted territory. After the Census magistrates were instructed to check the returns and send abstracts to the Colonial Secretary, designated Form ‘C’. The returns were then gathered together, statistics extracted and the final returns made.

This series comprises bound volumes of Form C . (NRS 1281).

The Form C records: number of return, name of establishment (usually head of household), number of each age group for males, and then for females (the age divisions are under two, two and under seven, seven and under 14, 14 and under 21, 21 and under 45, 45 and under 60, 60 and upwards); married or single; civil condition: free (born in colony, arrived free, other free persons), bond (ticket of leave, in government employment, in private assignment); then religion divided into Church of England, Church of Scotland, Wesleyan Methodists, other Protestant dissenters, Roman Catholics, Jews, Mohammedans and Pagans; occupation divided into land proprietors, merchants, bankers, and professional men; shopkeepers and other retail dealers; mechanics and artificers; shepherds and others in the care of sheep; gardeners, stockmen and persons employed in agriculture; domestic servants; all other persons not included in the foregoing classes; totals for males, for females, and for both; houses - further divided into stone or brick, wood, total; finished or unfinished; inhabited or uninhabited. The columns are totalled at the bottom of each sheet.

As well as these Abstracts of returns, there are also a number of "condensed" abstracts of returns, filled in on Form C. These enumerate the running numbers covered by each sheet of abstracts eg. one-20, 21-40 and give sums for each group as well as grand total.

Form C abstracts are arranged by district following the order in the Returns of the Colony for 1841. 'Condensed' Abstracts are filed with the district abstracts to which they pertain.

Berrima-Port Phillip (X946-49)
Queanbeyan-Yass (X950-51)

References
1) State Records New South Wales Website, "Concise Guide to the State Archives (Ca - Commissioners): Colonial Secretary, later Chief Secretary, later Services; s. Population and Statistics, a. Musters and Census Records, ii. Census,23. 1841 Census: Abstracts of returns, CGS 1282."
2) State Records New South Wales Website, "Introduction to the 1841 Census: Index to the 1841 Census, Background".
3) State Records New South Wales Website, "Short Guide 12 - Muster and Census Records, 1788 - 1901".

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators.

The census has gathered data on "occupations", meaning individuals' roles in the workplace, since the first household enumeration in 1841, and this collection includes most of the published results. However, how the results were classified varied greatly: for 1841, there is simply an alphabetical list of individual occupations, in 1851 the most basic classification was into workers in animal, vegetable and minerals, and so on. Further, the more detailed the occupational classification used, space considerations tended to require a less detailed geography; or, sometimes, the use of an abridged classification for small towns and rural areas; or even different tables and classifications for men and for women. There are consequently multiple datasets for some years.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (October 2022), the data and documentation have been revised.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

Main Topics:

Parish level statistics for England, Wales and Scotland taken from the 1801, 1811, 1851, 1891, 1911, 1931 and 1951 censuses.

Parish level statistics for England and Wales taken from the 1831 and 1871 censuses.

Parish level statistics for England taken from the 1821 and 1841 censuses.

Parish level statistics for Scotland taken from the 1881 census.

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

The UK censuses took place on 29th April 2001. They were run by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA), General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics, and underpin funding allocation to provide public services.

Census Support provides digitised boundary datasets of the UK, available in many Geographic Information System (GIS) formats. Most of these data are available as Open data under OGL v3 license. Postcode directories are also available although some of these are restricted to members of the academic community under 'Special Conditions'.

There are many digitised boundaries available. The main group of boundaries correspond to the various levels of 2011, 2001, 1991, 1981 and 1971 census geography which are designed to be used for spatial visualisation and analysis of census statistics. Also available are historic boundaries created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project, held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33288 Great Britain Historical Database, 1841-1939.