The Tapscott Family Tree

1911 Census

The 1911 census was the first census where a member of the household, rather than the enumerator completed the actual forms (schedules). The schedules were completed and signed by the head of the household.

The most notable change in the 1911 census is the inclusion of information regarding "fertility" in the schedules, as married women were asked to indicate how long they had been married and how many children they had (from their current marriage) living and dead.  Often (in my expereince), a widow would complete this information and it would subsequently be crossed out by the enumerator as the marriage was not considered "current". As a result of this however, it can be seen on the form completed by the household, and can therefore provide usefull information that, in previous years, would not have been available to the current population for review.

Some information is missing because many women boycotted the 1911 census refusing to be counted in response to the government’s denial of the vote to women.

Details recorded for each person, as at 2nd April, were:

  • Name and surname
  • Relationship to head of family
  • Age (with separate columns for male and female)
  • Marital condition
  • Number of years married (married women only)
  • Number of children born to present marriage, number still living and number who have died (married women only)
  • Personal occupation
  • Industry/service with which worker is connected
  • Employment status
  • Birthplace
  • Nationality (if born abroad)
  • Any infirmity