The details, which did not include names or addresses, were entered onto a prescribed schedule, attested before a Justice of the Peace and then forwarded to Mr. John RICKMAN in London. RICKMAN was formerly a clerk in the House of Commons and had been involved in the preparation of the Census Bill. He was given the responsibility by His Majesty’s Privy Council for collating all the census schedules sent to him. It took nearly 9 months to arrive at the Official Population of England & Wales, which in 1801 was about 8.34 million.

RICKMAN died in 1840, having played a large part in the first four censuses. In the same year, the Population Act was passed, which gave responsibility for future censuses to the Registrar General and set the pattern for modern censuses.

In 1904 the schedules for the first four censuses, which all followed a similar pattern to the 1801 one, were destroyed, when it was decided that they were of no historic value and took up too much room. All that remains now are the population figures.

Fortunately for local historians some parishes made copies of their schedules before despatching them. For Somerset, a mere handful of such copies exist, but thanks to the Overseers, Dr Peter Edward SCOBELL and Richard BROOKE, a full copy of the 1811 schedule for High Littleton and Hallatrow was entered in the back of the Overseers Account Book. In 1821, a copy was made of the individual column totals, but without any names.

The 1841 Census was taken on Monday 7^th June.
This was the first of the censuses to be organised by the Registrar General and aimed to list the entire population by name. Being taken in June, it is likely that a number of persons were not counted as they moved around the country in search of seasonal work. Similarly no special arrangements were made to cater for persons who were on night work or otherwise out of their homes temporarily on the night of the census. The information requested was very simple and consisted of:

Place of abode - often no more than the name of the village or hamlet was given.

Number of houses inhabited, uninhabited and being built.

Name, age and sex of each person in the household. Up to the age of 15 years, ages were required to be recorded exactly, from 15 to 19 as 15, 20 to 24 as 20, 25 to 29 as 25 and so on. Notwithstanding this instruction many people gave their actual age.

Profession, Trade, Employment or of Independent Means. Enumerators were instructed to write J. for Journeyman, Ap. for Apprentice and Sh. for Shopman after a person’s trade. It was unnecessary to insert the word Master, as everyone not described as a Journeyman or Apprentice was deemed to be a Master. Other abbreviations used were MS and FS for male and female servant, Ag. Lab. for agricultural labourer, Ind. for independent means and Annt. for annuitant.

Where born. The information was required in the form of Yes or No to the question “whether born in the same county”. If one was born in Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts, the letters S, I or F had to be added as appropriate. In some cases the county of birth was gratuitously recorded, instead of “No” - contrary to instructions.

The 1851 Census was taken on Sunday 30^th March.
The information provided was far more detailed than in 1841 and therefore of much greater benefit to researchers. In particular:

Schedules were listed in walking order, making it relatively easy to identify the whereabouts of a particular property.

The name or number of each house and street name was required to be given, although in a rural district few houses had names, numbers were generally non-existent and street names unofficial.

As before, houses inhabited, uninhabited and being built had to be identified separately.

Schedules were required to be completed by the head of each household. However, in the absence of clear instructions, lodgers and servants who lived in were sometimes recorded as separate households and other times as part of the main family’s household.

Relationship to the head of the household was shown for the first time, as was the marital condition of each person of marriageable age.

Exact ages in years (or days, weeks, months as appropriate, for children under 1 year) were required to be shown. However, the person completing the Schedule was not always accurate and often guessed the ages of members of the household.

Profession, Trade, Employment” replaced “Rank, Profession or Occupation” and employers were instructed to show additional details, such as number of hands employed and acreage farmed. A farmer’s family who worked on the farm were to be described merely as Farmer’s wife, Farmer’s daughter or son etc.

Where born” called for the name of the parish of birth and county, rather than a mere Yes or No to the question “Whether born in the same county”. However, here again, the person completing the Schedule sometimes did not check what he answered on behalf of others.

Persons who were Blind or Deaf or Dumb had to be identified as such on the Schedule.

The 1861 Census was taken on Sunday 8^th April.
The information provided differed in one minor respect from 1851 in that Imbeciles or Idiots and Lunatics had to be identified as such on the Schedule.

Guidance was given to Enumerators as to what constituted a household. Thus, a household might consist of parents, children, live-in servants, visitors and boarders at the same table, but a lodger alone or lodgers who boarded together constituted a separate household, although, ironically, the head of the latter household would still be described as Lodger, rather than Head, on the Schedule.

The 1871 Census was taken on Sunday 2^nd April and followed the pattern of the 1861 one.

The 1881 Census was taken on Sunday 3^rd April and followed the same pattern as 1861 and 1871.

The 1891 Census was taken on Sunday 5^th April.
It included two new sections, viz: