The census in the United Kingdom is decennial, that is, held every ten years, although there is provision in the Census Act 1920 for a census to take place at intervals of five years or more. There are actually three separate censuses in the United Kingdom – in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – although they are often co-ordinated. From 1821 to 1911, the census included the whole of Ireland.
There have only been three occasions in Great Britain where the census has not been decennial: There was no census in 1941 owing to the Second World War; a mini-census using a ten per cent sample of the population was conducted on 24 April 1966; and the planned Scottish 2021 census was delayed to 2022 owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] No census was held in Ireland in 1921, as a consequence of the Irish War of Independence; instead, Northern Ireland carried out a census in 1926, the first there for fifteen years.[2][a] No census was carried out in Northern Ireland in 1931, but one was carried out in 1937.[4]
Past censuses
editPublished censuses
editThe census records which have been published relate to the occupants of each household, as enumerated for the dates given below:
- United Kingdom Census 1801 – Tuesday, 10 March
- United Kingdom Census 1811 – Monday, 27 May
- United Kingdom Census 1821 – Monday, 28 May
- United Kingdom Census 1831 – Monday, 30 May
- 1841 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 6 June
- 1851 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 30 March
- 1861 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 7 April
- 1871 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 2 April
- 1881 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 3 April
- 1891 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 5 April
- 1901 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 31 March
- 1911 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 2 April
- 1921 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 19 June
- National Registration Act 1939 – Friday, 29 September Second World War
Unpublished censuses
editUnder the 100-year closure rule established after the 1911 census was taken, only summary results for censuses after 1939 – though with significant statistical detail – are published in the months[b] following the enumeration dates given below; the full information (individual household entries) in later censuses will not be released until the dates stated, a century after each later census was conducted.
- 1926 Northern Ireland Census – Sunday, 18 April:[2] The census returns were not transferred to the Public Record Office in Northern Ireland, and are believed to have been destroyed without authorisation, possibly as part of a World War II waste-paper campaign.[7]
- 1931 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 26 April: carried out in England, Wales, and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. The England and Wales census returns were destroyed in an accidental fire in 1942; the Scottish census returns were stored in Edinburgh, and survived.[8] The scheduled publication date for the Scottish returns is 1 January 2032
- 1937 Northern Ireland Census – Sunday, 28 February:[4] Unlike the 1926 Northern Ireland census, the 1937 census records survive.[7][9][10] (scheduled publication date 1 January 2038)
1941 United Kingdom Census– no census taken owing to World War II- 1951 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 8 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2052)
- 1961 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 23 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2062)
- 1966 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 24 April mini-census using a ten per cent sample (scheduled publication date 1 January 2067)
- 1971 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 25 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2072)
- 1981 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 5 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2082)
- 1991 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 21 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2092)
- 2001 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 29 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2102)
- 2011 United Kingdom census – Sunday, 27 March (scheduled publication date 1 January 2112)
- 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses – carried out in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland only on Sunday, 21 March 2021 (scheduled publication date 1 January 2122). The census in Scotland was carried out on 20 March 2022[11] (scheduled publication date 1 January 2123).
See also
editNotes
edit- ↑ The Irish Free State's first census was also carried out in 1926.[3]
- ↑ With larger population and more detailed questionnaires, as well as more granular results, publication dates are spread over a number of months. For the census applicable to enumeration on 21 March 2021, the first results for England and Wales were not published until 28 June 2022,[5] and the last set of results is provisionally (as of May 2023) predicted to be published in October or November 2023.[6]
References
edit- ↑ "Coronavirus: Census delayed by a year because of disease". BBC News. 17 July 2020.
- 1 2 "Preliminary report on the Census of Northern Ireland 1926" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2022.
- ↑ "National Archives - History of Irish census records".
- 1 2 "Census of population of Northern Ireland 1937 - Preliminary report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2020.
- ↑ "First results from Census 2021 in England and Wales". United Kingdom Census 2021. Office for National Statistics. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ↑ "Population estimates by output areas, electoral, health and other geographies, England and Wales: rebased mid-2012 to mid-2020". United Kingdom Census 2021. Office for National Statistics. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- 1 2 "Census lost: Historic 1926 NI records may be destroyed". BBC News. 11 June 2013.
- ↑ 1931 Census
- ↑ A Guide to Tracing Your Family History using the Census. Pen and Sword Family History. 30 August 2020. ISBN 9781526755254.
- ↑ Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records: A Guide for Family Historians. Pen and Sword Family History. 30 November 2021. ISBN 9781526780249.
- ↑ "National Records of Scotland". 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.