1911Census.org.uk

the address
name and surname of "each person who abode in the house on the night of 30th March 1851"
relationship of each person to the head of the family
each person's marital status ("condition")
age and sex. The sex was indicated by the column that the age was recorded in
rank, profession, or occupation
where born, parish and county (or if born outside of England or Wales, just the country)
whether they were blind, or deaf and dumb

There were some changes made to the information that had been collected 10 years before which provide some very important extra information for family historians, each persons marital status, their relationship to the head of family and their place of birth. In addition ages were given as the exact number of years at the p[revious birthday rather than rounded down to the nearest 5 years.

You can download a form produced by Ancestry showing the headings for the 1851 census by clicking here.

Accessing the 1851 Census

The full 1851 census for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man can be viewed on microfilm at the Family Records Centre in Islington and many local record offices have reels for their areas.

FreeCEN have good coverage for some counties, mainly in Scotland and they also have about 60% coverage for Cornwall.

Ancestry have a complete index of the 1851 Census. To access the Ancestry records you need to take out a subscription but a 14 day free trial is usually available. You can also access the Ancestry 1851 census records for free on site at The National Archives in Kew and the Family Records Centre in Islington.

The Genealogist site has transcripts for many English counties. They can either be viewed by taking out a subscription or as pay-per-view.

We always welcome any comments, suggestions or corrections - you can contact us at the feedback email address on the left or (publicly) using the message board