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.

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.

The 19th century censuses gathered data only on "occupations", meaning individuals' roles in the workplace, but the changing nature of work created a need for separate counts by "employer's business". The first such industry statistics resulted from the 1911 census, but the first data included here are from 1931. The 1931 data, unlike the later data, are tabulated by place of residence, as data on journeys to work were not gathered by that census.

Main Topics:

Numbers of workers in each industry, usually cross-classified by gender. The industrial classifications used change substantially over time, and by modern standards generally go into great detail about the manufacturing sector. For 1931 and 1951, one set of tables provide a detailed classification for counties and large towns and another provides a simplified classification for small towns and rural districts.

Census 2021 rounded population and household estimates for local authorities in England and Wales, by sex and five-year age group.

This package comprises the first release of 2011 Census data. The data includes a population estimate for males and females by 5-year age bands for each local authority in England and Wales. Also included is a single-year of age estimate for males and females for England and Wales.

The data is rounded to the nearest 100.

Table H01 - Number of households with at least one usual resident, local authorities
Table M01 -Number of non-UK short-term residents by broad age group and sex, England and Wales and constituent countries
Table M02 - Number of non-UK short-term residents by sex, local authorities in England and Wales
Table P01 - Usual resident population by single year of age and sex, England and Wales
Table P02 - Usual resident population by single year of age and sex, England
Table P03 - Usual resident population by single year of age and sex, Wales
Table P04 - Usual resident population by five-year age group, local authorities in England and Wales
Table P05 - Male usual resident population by five-year age group, local authorities in England and Wales
Table P06 - Female usual resident population by five-year age group, local authorities in England and Wales
Table P07 - Number of usual residents living in households and communal establishments, local authorities in England and Wales

Also released with this data was a Quality Assurance Pack for local authorities.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 1831 Census was the fourth national census to be undertaken in Great Britain. Although the amount of information collected in this census was far less than was to be collected in later years, that of 1831 was the first in which detailed occupational statistics were collected on the employment of males aged 20 and over. The census was also the first in which detailed instructions were given to the enumerators on how they were to count the population.

Main Topics:

This dataset is comprise by a complete transcription of the 1831 census abstracts for the whole of Great Britain and the offshore islands of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man; re-organised according to 1851 registration districts. It forms part of the wider Victorian Census project which aims to digitise nineteenth century census documents and related material, such as vital registration and crime statistics, pertaining to Great Britain and Ireland.

This dataset will not be available until January 2005, but a simplified version of the database can be downloaded from the Victorian Census Project web site:

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/vichome.htm


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

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) project has produced a standardised, integrated dataset of most of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1921: England and Wales for 1851-1861, 1881-1921 and Scotland for 1851-1901 and 1921, making available to academic researchers, detailed information at parish level about everyone resident in Great Britain collected at most of the decennial censuses between 1851-1921. Users should note that the 1871 England and Wales census data and 1911 Scottish census data are not available via I-CeM.

The original digital data has been coded and standardised. In addition, the original text and numerical strings have always been preserved in separate variables, so that researchers can go back to the original transcription. However, users should note that name and address details for individuals are not currently included in the database; for reasons of commercial sensitivity, these are held under Special Licence access conditions under SN 7856 for data relating to England, Wales and Scotland, 1851-1911 and SN 9281 for data relating to England and Wales, 1921.

This study (7481) relates to the available anonymised data for 1851-1911, i.e. all available years except 1921. Data for England and Wales 1921 are available under SN 9280. The data are available via an online system at https://icem.ukdataservice.ac.uk/

Latest edition information

For the second edition (June 2024), the 1851-1911 data have been redeposited with amended and enhanced data values.

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project webpages.

Main Topics:

Details are available for each individual on place of enumeration, household and familial structure, age, gender, marital status, occupation, employment status, birthplace, disability, language spoken (in Wales and Scotland).

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.

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.

In 1961, the Census of Population gathered data on housing tenure as well as density and amenities. The data in this study summarise the resulting tabulations, providing counts of numbers of households in each tenure type for all districts in Great Britain; the original tabulations also give counts by numbers of persons, and for some districts include cross-tabulations against numbers of rooms.

Main Topics:

Whether households owned their own home or, if owned by someone else, whether that was their employer, the local council (or New Town corporation), or a private rentier. If a private rental, whether the property was furnished or unfurnished.

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. The Great Britain Historical GIS Project has also produced digitised boundary data, which can be obtained from the UK Data Service Census Support service. Further information is available at census.ukdataservice.ac.uk Main Topics: The Great Britain Historical Database is a large database of British nineteenth and twentieth-century statistics. Where practical the referencing of spatial units has been integrated, data for different dates have been assembled into single tables. The Great Britain Historical Database currently contains :Statistics from the 1861 Census and the Registrar General's reports, 1851-1861 Employment statistics from the census, 1841-1931 Demographic statistics from the census, 1841-1931 Mortality statistics from the Registrar General's reports, 1861-1920 Marriage statistics from the Registrar General's reports, 1841-1870 Trade union statistics for the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), 1851-1918 Trade union statistics for the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ), 1863-1912 Official poor law statistics, 1859-1915 and 1919-1939 Wage statistics, 1845-1906 Hours of work statistics, 1900-1913 Small debt statistics from county courts, 1847-1913 and 1938 There are seven tables in this part of the Great Britain Historical Database : mar_rd holds marriage statistics for each registration district in England and Wales from 1841 to 1870. mar_1840 holds marriage statistics for each registration district in England and Wales from 1841 to 1850. mar_1850 holds marriage statistics for each registration district in England and Wales from 1851 to 1860. mar_1860 holds marriage statistics for each registration district in England and Wales from 1861 to 1870. reg_gen_durham_1871-1914.tab holds marriage statistics for the County of Durham and its registration districts from 1871 to 1914. reg_gen_england_wales_1871-1914.tab holds marriage statistics for each county of England and Wales from 1871 to 1914. reg_gen_lancashire_1871-1914.tab holds marriage statistics for the County of Lancashire and its registration districts from 1871 to 1914. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of this project was to create a synthetic dataset without using the original (secure, controlled) dataset to do so, and instead using only publicly available analytical output (i.e. output that was cleared for publication) to create the synthetic data. Such synthetic data may allow users to gain familiarity with and practise on data that is like the original before they gain access to the original data (where time in a secure setting may be limited).

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2011 and Census 2011: Synthetic Data was created without access to the original ASHE-2011 Census dataset (which is only available in a secure setting via the ONS Secure Research Service: "Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to 2011 Census - England and Wales"). It was created as a teaching aid to support a training course "An Introduction to the linked ASHE-2011 Census dataset" organised by Administrative Data Research UK and the National Centre for Research Methods. The synthetic dataset contains a subset of the variables in the original dataset and was designed to reproduce the analytical output contained in the ASHE-Census 2011 Data Linkage User Guide.

Main Topics:

Variables available in this study relate to synthetic employment, earnings and demographic information for adults employed in England and Wales in 2011.

The Office for National Statistics released Quality Assurance data for local authorities as part of the first release of 2011 Census data.

This Special Licence access dataset contains names and addresses from the Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) dataset of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1911. These data are made available under Special Licence (SL) access conditions due to commercial sensitivity.

The anonymised main I-CeM database that complements these names and addresses is available under SN 7481. It comprises the Censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851-1911; data are available for England and Wales for 1851-1861 and 1881-1911 (1871 is not currently available for England and Wales) and for Scotland for 1851-1901 (1911 is not currently available for Scotland). The database contains over 180 million individual census records and was digitised and harmonised from the original census enumeration books. It details characteristics for all individuals resident in Great Britain at each of the included Censuses. The original digital data has been coded and standardised; the I-CeM database has consistent geography over time and standardised coding schemes for many census variables.

This dataset of names and addresses for individual census records is organised per country (England and Wales; Scotland) and per census year. Within each data file each census record contains first and last name, street address and an individual identification code (RecID) that allows linking with the corresponding anonymised I-CeM record. The data cannot be used for true linking of individual census records across census years for commercial genealogy purposes nor for any other commercial purposes. The SL arrangements are required to ensure that commercial sensitivity is protected. For information on making an application, see the Access section.

The data were updated in February 2020, with some files redeposited with longer field length limits. Users should note that some name and address fields are truncated due to the limits set by the LDS project that transcribed the original data. No more than 10,000 records out of some 210 million across the study should be affected. Examples include:

• England and Wales:
  • 1851 - truncated at the 24th character (maximum I-CeM field length 95 characters)
  • 1881 - truncated at the 16th character (maximum I-CeM field length 50 characters).
• Scotland: for 1851‐71, truncations affect less than 0.01% of all addresses and for 1851 around 1% at most
  • 1851 - truncated at the 70th character
  • 1861 - truncated at the 76th character
  • 1871 - truncated at the 82th character
  • 1881 - truncated at the 50th character.

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project and I-CeM Guide webpages.

This dataset shows the population data collected for the 2011 Census mapped against Counties, Unitary Authorities, and Local Authority Districts. Fields include, total population, break down by sex, households, population in communal living, school boarders and population density for census areas. This data was sourced from the ONS website. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/index.html It has been combined with the 2011 census area boundary dataset that can also be found on the ONS website. All re-use of this data should acknowledge the OSN as the source of the data. GIS vector data. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2012-12-11 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-21.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 1971 Census Microdata Teaching Dataset for Great Britain: 1% Sample: Open Access dataset was created from existing digital records from the 1971 Census. It can be used as a 'taster' file for 1971 Census data and is freely available for anyone to download under an Open Government Licence.

The file was created under a project known as Enhancing and Enriching Historic Census Microdata Samples (EEHCM), which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council with input from the Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland. The project ran from 2012-2014 and was led from the UK Data Archive, University of Essex, in collaboration with the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research (CMIST) at the University of Manchester and the Census Offices. In addition to the 1971 data, the team worked on files from the 1961 Census and 1981 Census.

The original 1971 records preceded current data archival standards and were created before microdata sets for secondary use were anticipated. A process of data recovery and quality checking was necessary to maximise their utility for current researchers, though some imperfections remain (see the User Guide for details). Three other 1971 Census datasets have been created:

• SN 8268 - 1971 Census Microdata Individual File for Great Britain: 5% Sample, which contains information on individuals in larger local authorities;
• SN 8269 - 1971 Census Microdata Household File for Great Britain: 0.95% Sample, which links household members together to allow individuals to be understood within their household context. SNs 8268 and 8269 are both available to registered UK Data Service users based in the United Kingdom (see Access section for non-UK access restrictions); and
• SN 8271 - 1971 Census Microdata for Great Britain: 9% Sample: Secure Access, which comprises a larger population sample and so contains sufficient information to constitute personal data, meaning that it is only available to Accredited Researchers, under restrictive Secure Access conditions.

Main Topics:

Topics covered include demographics, for example age, gender, family, marital status, housing tenure, employment and qualifications, and housing tenure.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 2021 UK Census was the 23rd official census of the United Kingdom. The UK Census is generally conducted once every 10 years, and the 2021 censuses of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021. In Scotland, the decision was made to move the census to March 2022 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and National Records of Scotland (NRS), respectively. In England and Wales, Census 2021 was the first census with a digital-first design, encouraging participants to respond online rather than on a paper questionnaire.

Topics covered in the 2021 UK Census included:

• demography and migration
• ethnic group, national identity, language and religion
• labour market and travel to work
• housing
• education
• health, disability, and unpaid care
• Welsh and other languages
• UK armed forces veterans
• sexual orientation and gender identity.

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Individual Microdata Sample at Region Level dataset consists of a random sample of 5% of person records from the 2021 Census. It includes records for 3,021,455 persons. These data cover England and Wales only. The lowest level of geography is country (Wales) and regions within England. The dataset contains 89 variables and a medium level of detail.

Census Microdata

Microdata are small samples of individual records from a single census from which identifying information have been removed. They contain a range of individual and household characteristics and can be used to carry out analysis not possible from standard census outputs, such as:

• creating tables using bespoke variable combinations
• investigating specific combinations of variables or categories in a high level of detail
• conducting non-tabular statistical analyses on record-level data.

The microdata samples are designed to protect the confidentiality of individuals and households. This is done by applying access controls and removing information that might directly identify a person, such as names, addresses and date of birth. Record swapping is applied to the census data used to create the microdata samples. This is a statistical disclosure control (SDC) method, which makes very small changes to the data to prevent the identification of individuals. The microdata samples use further SDC methods, such as collapsing variables and restricting detail. The samples also include records that have been edited to prevent inconsistent data and contain imputed persons, households, and data values. To protect confidentiality, imputation flags are not included in any 2021 Census microdata sample.

Main Topics:

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Individual Microdata Sample at Region Level data cover: communal establishments, demography, education, ethnicity, identity, language, religion, health, disability, unpaid care, housing, internal migration, international migration, labour market, students, travel to work, Welsh language; and UK armed forces veterans.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 2021 UK Census was the 23rd official census of the United Kingdom. The UK Census is generally conducted once every 10 years, and the 2021 censuses of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021. In Scotland, the decision was made to move the census to March 2022 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and National Records of Scotland (NRS), respectively. In England and Wales, Census 2021 was the first census with a digital-first design, encouraging participants to respond online rather than on a paper questionnaire.

Topics covered in the 2021 UK Census included:

• demography and migration
• ethnic group, national identity, language and religion
• labour market and travel to work
• housing
• education
• health, disability, and unpaid care
• Welsh and other languages
• UK armed forces veterans
• sexual orientation and gender identity.

A census of population is held every ten years in the UK, in England and Wales it is undertaken by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in Scotland by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the latest census was taken on Sunday 21st March 2021. Due to issues around COVID-19, the census in Scotland was held a year later on 28th June 2022.

The census asks questions about you, your household and your home. In doing so, it helps to build a detailed snapshot of our society. Information from the census helps the government and local authorities to plan and fund local services, such as education, doctors' surgeries and roads.

Topics covered by the data released by the Census agencies include -

Demography and migration, UK armed forces veterans, ethnicity, national identity, language, religion, labour market, housing, sexual orientation, gender identity, education, health, disability and unpaid care.

The data in this series covers aggregate data at geographies from country level down to Output Area. Due to disclosure control (data can be blurred, changed or withheld to protect anonymity) not all datasets are available at all levels.

Main Topics:

- Accommodation and Housing

- Demography

- Health

- Identity

- Labour Market

- Language

- Ethnicity

- Education

- Disability and Unpaid Care

- Sexual Orientation

- Gender Identity

- Religion

- Armed Forces

Mid-year (30 June) estimates of the usual resident population for 2011 Census Output Areas (OAs) in the London region of England.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 1981 Census Microdata for Great Britain: 9% Sample: Secure Access dataset was created from existing digital records from the 1981 Census. It comprises a larger population sample than the other files available from the 1981 Census (see below) and so contains sufficient information to constitute personal data, meaning that it is only available to Accredited Researchers, under restrictive Secure Access conditions. See Access section for further details.

The file was created under a project known as Enhancing and Enriching Historic Census Microdata Samples (EEHCM), which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council with input from the Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland. The project ran from 2012-2014 and was led from the UK Data Archive, University of Essex, in collaboration with the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research (CMIST) at the University of Manchester and the Census Offices. In addition to the 1981 data, the team worked on files from the 1961 Census and 1971 Census.

The original 1981 records preceded current data archival standards and were created before microdata sets for secondary use were anticipated. A process of data recovery and quality checking was necessary to maximise their utility for current researchers, though some imperfections remain (see the User Guide for details).

Three other 1981 Census datasets have been created; users should obtain the other datasets in the series first to see whether they are sufficient for their research needs before considering making an application for this study (SN 8248), the Secure Access version:

• SN 8241 - 1981 Census Microdata Individual File for Great Britain: 5% Sample, which contains information on individuals in larger local authorities;
• SN 8242 - 1981 Census Microdata Household File for Great Britain: 0.95% Sample, which links household members together to allow individuals to be understood within their household context. SNs 8241 and 8242 are both available to registered UK Data Service users based in the United Kingdom (see Access section for non-UK access restrictions); and
• SN 8243 - 1981 Census Microdata Teaching Dataset for Great Britain: 1% Sample: Open Access, which can be used as a taster file and is freely available for anyone to download under an Open Government Licence.

Main Topics:

The file contains information on individuals in local authorities and counties. Topics covered include demographics, for example family and household circumstances, employment and qualifications, migration, commuting, car ownership, and housing.

The mid-year estimates refer to the population on 30 June of the reference year and are produced in line with the standard United Nations (UN) definition for population estimates. They are the official set of population estimates for the UK and its constituent countries, the regions and counties of England, and local authorities and their equivalents.

The census is undertaken by the Office for National Statistics every 10 years and gives us a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales. The most recent census took place in March of 2021.The census asks every household questions about the people who live there and the type of home they live in. In doing so, it helps to build a detailed snapshot of society. Information from the census helps the government and local authorities to plan and fund local services, such as education, doctors' surgeries and roads.Key census statistics for Leicester are published on the open data platform to make information accessible to local services, voluntary and community groups, and residents. There is also a dashboard published showcasing various datasets from the census allowing users to view data for the wards of Leicester and compare this with Leicester overall statistics.Further information about the census and full datasets can be found on the ONS website - https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/aboutcensus/censusproductsMain languageThis dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by their main language. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.Main language is a person's first or preferred language. They may speak other languages as well. A main language is provided only for residents age 3 and above. Residents age below 3 years will appear as ‘Does not apply’. Please note that some organisations exclude those below 3 years when calculating percentages for this variable.This dataset contains information for the wards of Leicester City.

First analysis of 2011 Census Key Statistics and Quick Statistics data release for Camden.