1911Census.org.uk

Accessing the 1911 Census

Go directly to the official online 1911 census site.

The 1911 census site is now officially launched and now covers all English and Welsh counties, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands - for more details see below.

Starting in the middle of 2007, Findmypast scanned and indexed the 1911 census for England and Wales (including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). After three months of testing and trialling their website to various groups of people, the site was officially launched on 13th January 2009.

The site allows a free person search and returns of matching entries - see the side panel for details. Assuming you've found the person you are after you can then choose to view either the transcription for the entire household or view the scan of the original schedule completed by the head of the household. There is a charge for this, pay per view, of 10 credits to view the transcription and 30 to view the original schedule. Credits cost between just under 9p and 12p depending on how many are bought at a time which means viewing a transcript will cost roughly 90p to £1.20 and viewing the schedule will cost roughly £2.70 to £3.60. Not all information is included in the transcript. For example the information against married women of the number of children in the current marriage can only be seen if you view the original schedule.

Free access to the 1911 Census

You can access the 1911 census, including viewing the transcripts and schedules, for free at the National Archives in Kew. There is more information here in a leaflet published on Census Returns on the National Archives website.

In addition the National Archives announced at the end of July 2009 that the 1911 census would be available for free at seven more archives and libraries around England and Wales, that is Aberystwyth, Birmingham, Exeter, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham. The National Archives funded a limited number of credits to enable these archives to provide free access for a limited time. However in some of the centres this proved to be very popular and the credits have been used. Free access is no longer available in Newcastle and Nottingham, for other centres check here for further details..

Taking out a Subscription to the 1911 Census with Findmypast

The subscription package for viewing the 1911 Census is now available from Findmypast.

A 1911 Census Only Subscription to the 1911 census costs £59.95 for an annual subscription, 12 months, or £39.95 for six months.

Alternatively you can buy the Foundation Subscription which gives you access to all their Census records (including the 1911 census) and also their BMD (Births, Marriages and Deaths) records for £79.95 for 12 months or for £49.95 for six months.

Or you could go for the Findmypast Full Subscription which gives you access to all their records for £109.95 for 12 months or for £69.95 for six months. The Full Subscription, as well as all the UK Census records and the BMD records, also gives you access to their Parish Records, their Migration Records, their Military Records and their Specialist Records.

There are more details on the official online 1911 census site.

Buying Pay per View credits for the 1911 Census with Findmypast

Initially, transcriptions and schedules could only be viewed using "PayAsYouGo" credits. You can get to the website and buy credits via this link.

You can use your Findmypast username and password and use any Findmypast credits across both sites, the existing site and the new 1911 census site.

Taking out a Subscription to the 1911 Census with Genes Reunited

Genes Reunited (who are owned by the same company, Bright Solid, that owns Findmypast) also offer subscription access to the 1911 census for England & Wales. The Genes Reunited Platinum Package costs £79.95 for an annual, 12 month, subscription, £49.95 for a 6 month subscription or £19.95 for one month. This package also includes the other England and Wales census records and BMD records.

There are more details on the Genes Reunited web site.

Searching

The personal details that can be searched on cover more information than is displayed in the results. This enables some more information to be gleaned without having to pay by refining the search, for example to discover if someone was head of the household or to find other household members with the same surname (to do this you need to choose the "Advanced Search" option on the Findmypast site).

To explain, the search for Winston Churchill gives nineteen entries one of which is the one you're interested in (Winston Spencer born about 1875), then if you then repeat the search but also specify "Relationship to Head of Household" as "Head" then if the same entry appears this time, you know that he was Head of the Household - if he does not appear that it must be something else (by the way, he was).

Coverage of the online 1911 Census

Findmypast scanned and indexed the 1911 census across England and Wales in the order of the National Archives catalogue number, basically starting in London, moving outwards and upwards through the English counties, then the Welsh counties, and finally the islands and military establishments.

This is now complete; the promise to make the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire and also Durham available during March was met on March 17th and the remaining three English counties, Cumberland, Northumberland and Westmorland, came online on April 7th 2009. All of Wales became available in one go on June 9th and the final part covering the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, the Royal Navy and Overseas Military Establishments became available on June 18th 2009.

The counties covered are the English counties, that is Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Durham, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutlandshire, Shropshire, Somersetshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Westmorland, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire East Riding, Yorkshire North Riding and Yorkshire West Riding and the Welsh counties, that is Anglesey, Brecknockshire, Carnarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire and Radnorshire, and lastly the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Royal Navy and Overseas Military Establishments.

The missing information from two volumes covering parts of the Knaresborough and Doncaster areas in Yorkshire West Riding, each affecting about 1500 individuals, was made available on March 18th.

There are some missing or damaged volumes. Details are here.

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