WHITEHOUSE FAMILY HISTORY CENTRE
1. INTRODUCTION
This document explains and provides links to the WFHC's sortable indexed transcripts of Whitehouses in censuses of the British Isles and the United States of America.
1.1 Censuses of the British Isles
The indexed transcripts provided here are for the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses of England & Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, drafts for the corresponding Scottish censuses, an 1881 census referencing file (not a complete document), the 1891 census of Cannock, Staffordshire and a 1911 census file which is mainly a referencing file (very early stage, being built up). The files are in MS Excel 2003 as an indexed transcript, arranged by surname, forename(s) and age. With a few exceptions, the whole household has been transcribed wherever a Whitehouse has been found. Thus, the files can be downloaded and sorted to display the household, along with the address and WFHC reference number. An ability to sort the files is absolutely essential and an explanation of how to sort in Excel is given at the end of this document. If you have never used Excel before, don’t worry: the instructions below are simple and clear and you’ll be delighted to have acquired a new skill.
A unique feature of these files is that they are annotated (against the head of household only) with the reference numbers of WFHC correspondents' genealogies. These references are used to put those with related genealogies in touch with each other.
Coverage is theoretically complete for the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses of England, Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, but the odd omission cannot be entirely ruled out.
Each of the 1841 - 1871 censuses is split into 2 files: E&W (England, Wales, Isle of Man & Channel Is); and SCT (Scotland). Together they contain nearly 35,000 lines of entry (names). The E&W files are of a size within the range 1.36 to 2.1 MB and print out at more than 150 pages of portrait A4.
Some of these files require further checking, but in general they are better than existing on-line databases for finding Whitehouses. None of them is complete as to the WFHC reference numbers. Consequently, the files will be updated from time to time and the updates can be distinguished by the yymmdd date appearing in the file name. Because the files become out of date, it would be appreciated if downloaders would not circulate them to others, but just provide a link to the website so that the latest version is consulted.
Researchers who have failed to find their Whitehouse ancestor in one of the above censuses using other indexes are recommended to try the files here. They contain many Whitehouses that have been misindexed elsewhere.
The 1881 census transcript is a “referencing file”. The coverage of this file is limited to the trees of WFHC correspondents whose trees have been digitised. The 1911 transcript, which was started in early 2009, is primarily a referencing file dependent on contributions being sent in by WFHC correspondents, but other entries are being added. Thus, the 1881 and 1911 files differ from those for the 1841 to 1871 census in that they do not pretend to offer a complete index to all households containing a Whitehouse. There are no Scottish entries yet.
1.2 Censuses of the United States of America
The indexed transcripts provided here are for certain states only, but they are as complete as possible for each state. A project to transcribe Whitehouses in the US census was started in 2009 and it will take a long time to build up meaningful coverage. The intention is to cover the 1840 to 1880 censuses only. As far as possible, the transcription resembles that carried out for the British censuses.
2. LINKS IN BRIEF
2.1 British censuses
1841 Census
1.36 MB, 7831 lines of entry, 154 pp
32 kB, 82 lines of entry, 3 pp
This 10-page Excel file shows the towns and places corresponding to West Midlands Piece (HO 107/....) numbers.
1851 Census
1.51 MB, 7918 lines of entry, 163 pp
41 kB, 122 lines of entry, 4 pp
1861 Census
1.67 MB, 8726 lines of entry, 187 pp
34 kB, 86 lines of entry, 6 pp
This one-page Word file shows the Registration Districts corresponding to West Midlands Piece (RG9/….) numbers.
1871 Census
2.1 MB, 10467 lines of entry, 235 pp
37kB, 102 lines of entry, 3 pp
1881 Census
640kB, 3090 lines of entry, 66 pp (WFHC refs. only)
Other censuses
97kB, 419 lines of entry, 9 pp
1911 CEN E&W REFS PLUS 090925oo.xls
111kB, 342 lines of entry, 8 pp landscape (Early stage, WFHC refs. plus other contributions)
CONTRIBUTIONS WANTED, PLEASE - PREFERABLY THE ORIGINAL SCHEDULE
REL CODES 081230.xls provides a key to the abbreviations used for head of household, wife, son, daughter etc. This document also includes relationships to the testator or intestate deceased for the purposes of grants of probate and letters of administration.
22 kB, 46 lines of entry, 1 page
CHAPMAN CTY CODES 030620.xls shows the well-known 3-letter county abbreviations in common use in genealogical databases. The modern version is used here.
22 kB, 1 page
COUNTRY CODES 030620.xls gives the internationally recognised 2-letter abbreviations of the larger countries.
17 kB, 1 page
TRANS RULES 070331.doc gives even fuller explanation than here about census transcription, being a document intended mostly for myself, to ensure consistency.
152 kB, 11 pages (Word)
2.2 US Censuses
US 1840 CEN IN KY 090925.xls covers Indiana and Kentucky, 35 kB, 115 lines of entry, 3 pp landscape.
US 1850 CEN IN KY 090925.xls covers Indiana and Kentucky, 56 kB, 204 lines of entry, 5 pp landscape.
US 1860 CEN IN KY 090925.xls covers Indiana and Kentucky, 85 kB, 318 lines of entry, 8 pp landscape.
US 1870 CEN IN KY 090925.xls covers Indiana and Kentucky, 85 kB, 307 lines of entry, 9 pp landscape.
US 1880 CEN IL IN KY TX 090925.xls covers Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, 203 kB, 723 lines of entry, 24 pp landscape.
3. CURRENT SCOPE OF THE FILES
3.1 British censuses
1841 census
England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
West Midlands has been obtained partly by trawling (reading through a film), a particularly unreliable method. All parts which were trawled have been checked against the "British Origins" index. All other areas have been produced by using the "British Origins" and "Ancestry" indexes.
Scotland
This is in draft form, being based on the Ancestry index plus a few "trawlings". Until it is checked against the original records, that is to say images of the census returns, it should be treated with extreme caution.
1851 census
England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
West Midlands has been compiled from or checked against the LDS (Warwickshire), Friend (Worcestershire) and BMSGH (Staffordshire) indexes. It is therefore likely to be highly complete. It covers National Archives pieces HO 107/1999 to 2075. London, defined as The National Archives pieces HO 107/1466 to 1591 plus all of 1768 (West Ham RD), has been covered by local indexes. All other areas have been compiled mainly from published paper or microfiche name indexes, but some counties have never been indexed fully in this way. The gaps have been filled with the aid of the "Ancestry" indexes.
Scotland
This has been compiled in draft form as follows. In phase 1, the counties covered were Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire (no entries), Dunbartonshire, Kirkcudbrightshire (no entries), Lanarkshire (including Glasgow), Renfrewshire and Wigtownshire (no entries). These were transcribed from films, but have not been checked. In phase 2, the Ancestry index was used to supplement the phase 1 entries and extend the area of coverage to the whole country, but without any checking against the original records.
1861 census
England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
West Midlands has been derived by a combination of trawling, paper name indexes and the "Ancestry" indexes. All three counties (Staffs, Warwicks, Worcs) have been checked for completeness against the "Ancestry" and "Findmypast" indexes. A quality control project to check all the entries in Staffs, Worcs and rural Warwicks has been completed. This was done by a Whit* search in “Ancestry” (where * = any termination). All other areas have been completed, using the "Ancestry" and "Findmypast" indexes.
Scotland
This has been compiled in draft form from the “Ancestry” index. None of the entries has been checked against the original records.
1871 census
England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
All areas have been searched in both the “Ancestry” and “British Origins” indexes. Some paper indexes have also been used in the West Midlands.
Scotland
This has been compiled in draft form from the “Ancestry” index, supplemented by guesses to correct obviously incorrect transcriptions. None of the entries has been checked against the original records. One of them was investigated, determined provisionally to relate to Whitecross, and omitted.
General note about accuracy
It is impossible to guarantee that the sortable indexed transcripts on this website are free from errors and omissions. As regards omissions, none of the methods used to compile these transcripts is likely to be perfect. Paper and microfiche name indexes are generally the best, but omissions have been found in a few. Of the major on-line indexes, those of "Ancestry" are simply appalling. Whitehouse has been found indexed as Whitchoun, Whitchouse, Whitchurch, Whitcomb, Whitehair, Whitehaire, Whiteham, Whitehorse, Whitehorn, Whitehorne, Whitehead, Whitelaw, Whitham and even White (RG10/3139 FO 80), Whitbourn (RG 9/438 FO 154), Whitcham (RG10/3134 FO 16), Whitchana (HO 107/983/6 FO 18), Whitchann (HO 107/2020 FO 143), Whitchcrass (HO 107/996/4 FO 12), Whitchcuse (RG10/147 FO 5), Whitcher (RG9/2131 FO 68; HO 107/997/1 FO 35), Whitchone (RG9/2146 FO 32), Whitchonse (HO 107/983/6 FO 6), Whitchoak (RG10/3178 FO 129), Whitchont (HO 107/993/17 FO 4), Whitchover (HO 107/983/6 FO 8), Whitchowe (RG10/3203 FO 4), Whitdrona (RG10/3071 FO 108), Whiteford (RG10/3092 FO 40), Whitebook (RG10/3479 FO 61), Whitehaiir (with the double i: HO 107/997/2 FO 33), Whitehavse (RG10/3143 FO 61), Whitehine (HO 107/997/2 FO 38), Whitehone (RG9/ 2131 FO 20), Whitehorue (RG9/2177 FO 75), Whitelevuse (RG10/3189 FO 62) and Whitetsore (RG10/3124 FO 124). To counter this, some searches have been made using Whit*, where * is a wild card, denoting any letter or letters. However, even this tedious technique is not enough, for the name has been rendered by "Ancestry" as Lederhouse (RG12/2351 FIO 55), Mitchem (RG9/2029 FO 106), Mitchouse (HO 107/2362 FO 103), Warland (RG9/2131 FO 21) Wartchow (RG10/226 FO 44), Warthanse (HO 107/2315 FO 245), Waterhouse (RG9/2029 FO 20), Wheelhouse (RG10/3156 FO 141; HO 107/2362 FO 119), Whelehan (RG9/2056 FO 41 & RG10/5464 FO 31), Whetchon (RG9/2131 FO 62), Whetchow (RG9/2063 FO 116), Whetham (RG9/2121 FO 44 & 2032 FO 91), Whetstone (RG9/2032 FO 49, Whikhouse ( RG10/1300 FO 61), Whilehome (RG10/3087 FO 87), Wickhouse (RG10/3082 FO 56), Witcham (RG9/2033 FO 110) and Witchouse (RG9/2033 FO 100). Slips of the eye produced Hutchinson (RG10/3155 FO 73) and Walker (RG10/2950 FO 55), but the most bizarre mis-readings so far are Atutchcus (RG10/3078 FO 3), White Mouse - two words (RG10/2854 FO 101), White Snape - also two words (RG10/5243 FO 86) and McWhitehouse (RG10/1477 FO 23). Nearly as amusing are Ritehouse for the well known lawyer Thomas Mott Whitehouse (RG10/2933 FO 47), Vohitehons (RG10/2939 FO 134), Silutense (RG9/2159 FO 30) and Ukikhouse (RG10/2941 FO 62). This is such a shame, as ”Ancestry” has a very good search interface and wonderfully clear images.
Be warned also that not all entries indexed as Whitehouse are correct. For example, the "Whitehouse" on the CD-ROM for Montgomery (1851) turned out to be Whitticase. "Albert Whitehouse" in the Ancestry index to the 1861 census of West Bromwich (RG9/2029 FO 211) is in fact Aaron Harrison ! Henry Handley (RG10/3147 FO 50) is mysteriously indexed by British Origins as a Whitehouse.
3.2 US Censuses
The current scope of these can be seen from the file names, where the usual abbreviations are used for the names of States (see Table below). To avoid over-long file names, the intention is to group states together alphabetically while the index is being built up, so that, for example, “A -D” will mean Alabama to Delaware.
|
AL |
Alabama |
IN |
Indiana |
NC |
North Carolina |
SD |
South Dakota |
|
AK |
Alaska |
KS |
Kansas |
ND |
North Dakota |
TN |
Tennessee |
|
AR |
Arkansas |
KY |
Kentucky |
NE |
Nebraska |
TX |
Texas |
|
AZ |
Arizona |
LA |
Louisiana |
NH |
New Hampshire |
UT |
Utah |
|
CA |
California |
MA |
Massachusetts |
NJ |
New Jersey |
VT |
Vermont |
|
CT |
Connecticut |
MD |
Maryland |
NV |
Nevada |
VA |
Virginia |
|
DC |
District of Columbia |
ME |
Maine |
NY |
New York |
WA |
Washington |
|
DE |
Delaware |
MI |
Michigan |
OH |
Ohio |
WI |
Wisconsin |
|
FL |
Florida |
MN |
Minnesota |
OK |
Oklahoma |
WV |
West Virginia |
|
GA |
Georgia |
MO |
Missouri |
OR |
Oregon |
WY |
Wyoming |
|
IA |
Iowa |
MS |
Mississippi |
PA |
Pennsylvania |
|
|
|
ID |
Idaho |
MT |
Montana |
RI |
Rhode Island |
|
|
|
IL |
Illinois |
NE |
Nebraska |
SC |
South Carolina |
|
|
All the information has been derived by making searches in “Ancestry”, but since deviant renderings of the name have been covered, the results are superior to those achieved merely by searching in the name Whitehouse.
4. DETAILED EXPLANATIONS
4. 1 GENERAL COMMENTS
These census transcripts are intended to include every normal household containing at least one Whitehouse (or variant name). Each transcript includes the whole entry of the household, even if the only Whitehouse is a servant. However, where the name appears in an institution, e.g. workhouse, prison, asylum, school, hotel, lodging house or boarding establishment, only the Whitehouse is normally listed, along with the "household number" (see below).
Those having Whitehouse as a forename have been included, even where the surname Whitehouse does not appear in the entry.
Generally, the aim has been to reach a compromise between faithfulness to the original and a document which can be searched fairly easily, accommodated comfortably on A4 paper and printed out at reasonable cost.
In general, question marks (query signs) to denote a doubtful interpretation have been used sparingly, but some were inevitable. A single space has been left between the end of the item and the question mark.
Round brackets, sometimes left open, are reproduced as in the census return. Square brackets are used for remarks that do not appear in the original, e.g. "[sic]", "[Illegible]".
Where the item does not make good sense or reads oddly, "[sic]" appears after it, with one space between the word and "[sic]". "Sic" is Latin for "thus" and the conventional way of saying: "I know it doesn't make sense or seems odd, but this is what the original says." Use of this has been sparing, to avoid nuisance in searching. Lately, for the British censuses, I have used it increasingly in relation to the place of birth, where the literal transcription is felt to be wrong.
In an attempt to achieve consistent data entry, I have produced a "bible" (see TRANS RULES file, link above), which shows in great detail the rules that I have tried to follow for the British censuses.
4.2 1851, 1861 & 1871 BRITISH CENSUSES
SURNAME (Column A)
The surname sticks faithfully to the original. If the name appearing is not WHITEHOUSE, but, say, WHITEHOUS, it is shown in the Surname column as WHITEHOUSE, but noted under "Address & Notes" as a variant. This expedient has been adopted to ensure that the surname always sorts properly. Where there is a doubt about whether the surname is WHITEHOUSE, it has been included. In several instances, other years of the census have been consulted.
In a few cases, the surname is formally not stated, the enumerator having apparently failed to insert "do" (ditto).
Because "No name stated" is so very unhelpful, the ditto has been inferred where the context justifies it.
FORENAME(S) (Column B)
All forenames are given faithfully, so all the "William H" and "Wm" entries will appear after the "William" ones. Ingenuity might have to be displayed to pick up abbreviations and deviant spellings. However, it is not necessary to specify "Wm.", with the full stop (period) as all full stops have been eliminated from the document.
"Joseph" is frequently shortened to "Jos" or "Josh", while "Thomas" can be "Tho", "Thos", "Ths" or even "Thoms". As mentioned above, no general attempt has been made to indicate when the final letter of the name is raised. In a few instances, a note has been added. These include "Josh", where a note has been entered as to whether the final 'h' is raised, indicating Joseph, or level, in which case the name might be either Joshua or Joseph.
One particular problem forename is "Louisa". This baffled many enumerators and resulted in many phonetic spellings such as Leweser and Luizer, as well as the misspelling "Lousia".
REL = Relationship to Head of Household (Column C)
The code adopted (see the link above) is similar to that used by the late A.F.Friend (and many other census indexers). A single code has been adopted for both census and probate purposes.
Relationship to the head of household has been interpreted in those cases where it is clear that the literal designation cannot be correct, e.g. where a visitor's son appears simply as "son", this has been changed to "visitor's son" (VR's SO in the code used).
In some instances, there is no "Head" given. This could be because the person who is regarded as "Head" is away from home and the enumerator has not nominated another person in his or her place. Alternatively, a person in the preceding entry might have been regarded as the "Head". In this transcript, the census return has been followed faithfully.
CON = Marital Condition (Column D)
The marital status has been entered faithfully, except that the code makes no distinction between widow and widower. Where the entry says "Single", the letter S has been used. Quite often, the enumerator has not listed a wife as married. Probably this was oversight, but blanks have been preserved as blanks, in case they might have some significance in some entries.
AGE (Column E)
The transcripts do not allot separate male and female columns, but where initials only are given or the forename is unclear or unusual, "[Male]" or "[Female]" has been added. Ages of less than a year, in days (d), weeks (w) or months (m), are treated as 0 (zero), so that they will sort better. The age given appears in "Address & Notes". Similarly, ages in half years and ages of 12 months upwards have been re-expressed as the age in years on the last birthday and a note added to "Address & Notes".
Because Excel mis-sorts numbers with any textual matter following them, question marks, alternatives and "[sic]" comments do not appear in the age column. See "Address & Notes".
OCCUPATION (Column F)
This has been entered faithfully, except that the first word of the entry and every noun and adjectival noun contained in it begins with a capital letter. This is to help in searching occupations and make data entry easier.
Where the occupation has been given as "Widow", "Visitor" etc., this information has been transferred to the correct column and the occupation column left blank.
BIRTH CTY (Column G)
Chapman county codes have been used for counties of the United Kingdom and Ireland. For foreign countries, other than Ireland (IRL), the International Standards' Organisation's two letter codes have been adopted, e.g. Netherlands = NL. See the links to keys provided in Section 4 above.
BIRTHPLACE (Column H)
The policy has been to keep faithfully to the original. Consequently, because of the different spellings and abbreviations, searching under this heading might need care on occasions. For example, Birmingham might appear in full or as "Birm", "Birmg", "Birmm", "Bham" or even "Bm".
PC = Piece (Column I)
This refers to the number given by the National Archives to a census district and is consequently the number of their microfilm. The prefix HO 107/… (1841 and 1851), RG9/… (1861) or RG/10… (1871) has been omitted for brevity.
FO = Folio (Column J)
The Folio number is that appearing as a large, thick number at the top right-hand corner of every other page. It should not be confused with the page number, which is the much smaller one appearing at the top centre of every page. The folio consists of the page on which this number appears and the one AFTER it. The convention in the WFHC transcripts is to use the folio number of the first entry of the household. If the enumeration continues onto a new folio, that is disregarded and the first number used throughout the household. Quite often, folio numbers given here differ from those of other indexes. This is because (a) occasionally, the other indexes are wrong, a common mistake being to attribute the folio number to the page BEFORE the one on which it appears; or (b) they use a different convention, e.g. if a household spills over onto a new folio at entry No. 3, to record entries 1 & 2 as belonging to the first folio number and entries 3 onwards to the second folio number.
The above procedure is followed even for institutions such as prisons, workhouses, schools and lodging houses. Thus, the folio at which the first page of names in the institution begins is entered in the FO column. The folio at which the Whitehouse entry appears and the page number are added in "Address & Notes".
Where an additional folio has been inserted in the piece with an "A" number, such as "60A", the "A" has been omitted from this column, to prevent problems in searching (because the suffix "A" causes the folio number to be shunted to the end, after the highest normal number). A note appears under "Address & Notes" that the folio number is 60A.
Scottish census returns are not foliated, so the references are to enumeration district, page and schedule number.
The Parish or District numbers applicable to the Old Parochial Registers have been used for identification purposes, appearing under the heading “DIST”. The inserted column “SD” immediately following “DIST” refers to the sub-district.
SCH = Schedule Number (Column K)
The Schedule number is the number given by the enumerator to an entry for an individual household. Enumerators had different ideas about what constitutes a household. For example, a group of lodgers might be considered to be a household and none of them designated "Head". The policy here has been to adhere faithfully to the enumerator's schedules and not to merge entries from neighbouring schedule numbers or to separate entries within a schedule number, unless there is an obvious error in numbering.
For example, if schedule 132 follows 130, but it appears that 130 contains two households, the second one has been numbered 131 in the WFHC transcript.
Schedule numbers followed by "A" have been treated in the same way as for Folio numbers - see above.
HN = Household Number (Column L)
This is the number used to denote the order of the individual entries within a household, so that the original order can be retained in the transcript if desired. The numbers will normally be consecutive, starting with 1. However, where the WHITEHOUSE is found in an institution, it is not practical to list all the entries within the institution, as there are too many. Accordingly, the number of entries has been counted and the WHITEHOUSE given his or her correct number in the order. Thus, the transcript might record a single name, WHITEHOUSE, John, with, for example, HN = 34 and no preceding entries. The folio number given in the column FO is that of the beginning of the institution. To help to locate the WHITEHOUSE entry within an institution, the folio and page number where he appears are given in "Address & Notes".
ADDRESS & NOTES (Column M)
The policy here has been to use the correct spelling of the address, whenever this is known to me or obvious, ignoring the enumerator's spelling. Of course, in my ignorance, some road names might not be correctly spelt.
The address given is the road name and, where given by the enumerator, house number, followed by a colon, single space and then the town name. Wards and parishes have been mostly omitted, as they are frequently omitted by enumerators and when available are often confusing. Generally, addresses which refer to particular buildings or to courts have been edited to place them before the name of the street.
Street names are reproduced as in the entry, except that the commoner suffix designations have been abbreviated, e.g. "Street" to "St". Town names have been changed where necessary to give the correct spelling. However, some abbreviation of town names has been needed to meet space requirements, e.g. Birmingham to B'ham, West Bromwich to W Brom, Great Wyrley to Gt Wyrley and Wolverhampton to W'hampton. The general policy has been to provide only one town name, even when the "town" is a small village, in order to save space. Where it is thought that there could be a problem for some readers in identifying the "town", because it is a hamlet or a small locality, the name of the associated town has been included as well, e.g. as in "Village: Blackheath: Rowley Regis".
An address is shown only for the first member of each household. Consequently, to find the address of a second or subsequent member, call up the whole household by sorting first by Household Number alone, then sorting again by Piece, Folio and Schedule.
The disabilities noted by the enumerator have been included in the Address & Notes column in capitals, e.g. "DEAF".
WFHC REF (Column N)
Each genealogy registered with the WFHC is given a number. This column is incomplete at present. The reference is given only in the first row of each household. Remember also that the first person in a household is not necessarily a Whitehouse. A question mark is used for the more doubtful references. If there is more than one reference number, some of which are more doubtful and others less so, semicolons are used to separate the more secure from the more doubtful. References are assigned on the basis of reasonable probability (rather than beyond all reasonable doubt). It is strongly recommended in all cases to call up the whole household by sorting first by Household Number alone, then sorting again by Piece, Folio and Schedule.
4.3 1841 BRITISH CENSUS
The arrangement of the transcript is as similar as possible to that for the 1851 census, but with the following alterations. Obviously, columns of the 1851 census not appearing in the 1841 census (REL, CON, BIRTHPLACE) were omitted and BTH CTY has changed to BORN SAME CTY ?.
As most readers know, the 1841 census does not give exact places of birth. The "BORN SAME CTY ?" column in this transcript contains the answers Y = yes, N = no, SCT= Scotland, IRL = Ireland, FOR = foreign parts. In the original, one letter abbreviations were used, making it difficult to tell "S" (Scotland) from "I" (Ireland), considering that "I" often has a tail at the bottom and a flourish at the top of the character. In the Channel Islands entries, Y = born on the Island, N = born on another of the Channel Islands, ENG = England and the other abbreviations are as above.
The 1841 census rarely contains schedule numbers, so this column has also disappeared. Column G (BK = Book No.) gives the book number within each piece. The more modern microfilms now have this added to the piece number alongside the pages. For example, in The National Archives’ film, Book 1 of Piece 1196 (Dudley) is shown as HO 107/1196/1. Folio numbers in the 1841 census films do not run continuously right through the piece. Instead, they begin again at Folio 1 for every book. The Folio No. (FO) is therefore not enough on its own to identify an entry. The Piece (PC), Book (BK) and Folio (FO) numbers are needed. However, films available in other places do not necessarily have Book or Folio numbers. To help readers using these, the transcript also provides Enumeration District (ED) and Page (P) numbers. In straightforward Pieces, such as Dudley, there are two or three Enumeration Districts within every Book and they are numbered consecutively throughout the Piece. For example, Book 1 consists of EDs 1 and 2, Book 2 EDs 3 and 4, the Piece ending with Book 17 (EDs 35 - 37) and Book 18 (Workhouse ED). By contrast, some Pieces are far from simple, as they contain returns from different Registration Districts. Take, for example, rural Worcestershire in HO 107/1197. Here there are no less than five EDs each numbered "4" ! The explanation is that they fall within the Registration Districts of Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Kidderminster, Pershore and Kings Norton and can be found in Books 6, 11, 15, 16 and 21. So, to refer just to Piece 1197, ED4, page 5, for example, would be unhelpful: the Book number needs to be given as well.
In the 1841 census, each enumerated item is supposedly one dwelling, marked off by a double diagonal line at the end of the entry. A single diagonal line indicates a new family within the same dwelling. Thus, one frequently finds one of these single lines separating a family from a lodger or servant. Sometimes, it separates related people, such as father and son. I have transcribed the whole entry for the house, regardless of whether there is a "family divider" line or not. Originally, I had intended to omit these "family divider" lines, but in the end I introduced a new column for them, at the left-hand side. An oblique stroke in this column on the same line as a name indicates that the new family begins with that name. Thus "/ BROWN James" after several rows of Whitehouses means that James Brown is the first member of another family within the same house.
The whole enumerated house is treated as one household and extracted if there is a Whitehouse anywhere within it. The "household" numbering (HN) in column L is more correctly the enumerated item or dwelling numbering, as it runs through the whole entry to the end, marked by the double diagonal line.
In the 1841 census, the enumerators were supposed to use "m" (lower case) to represent "maker" and "M" (upper case) to denote manufacturer. I have tried to follow the census literally and have used upper and lower case "M" and "m". In practice, it has been difficult often to tell which case was intended and anyway the distinction is probably unreliable and not particularly helpful.
Because there are no schedule numbers for the 1841 census, one cannot tell from a normal type of transcript whether two enumerated items or dwellings are adjacent. To combat this, a column M (the column heading "O" = vicinity order) has been included. Here, arbitrary letters, A, B, C… show the order of dwellings which are on the same or the following page. For example, suppose there are three Whitehouse dwellings on consecutive pages, one on each page. Say that they are headed by John Whitehouse, William Whitehouse and James Smith (who employs Mary Ann Whitehouse as a servant). Suppose that John appears near the foot of one page, the next dwelling does not contain any Whitehouse and then William Whitehouse's family follow on the next page. John's is given the letter "A" and William's "C" (indicating that there is the non-Whitehouse item "B" between them). Because there is a third Whitehouse entry, on the third page, this is included in the vicinity sequence. This time, there are seven dwellings in between. William's entry retains the letter "C", the seven in between are D, E, F, G, H, I and J, so James Smith's entry on the third page bears the letter "K".
The main use of the vicinity order is to determine adjacency, which might indicate a family relationship. Another use is to point up high densities of the name in a particular area, which would lead one to be cautious in assuming that adjacent entries are related. A third use is to enable the transcript to be sorted in the correct order, when two entries are on the same page.
4.4 1881 BRITISH CENSUS REFERENCING FILE
The 1881 census referencing file follows the same pattern as for 1841 to 1871, with the addition of a column showing the page number. This file is built up using the LDS transcript as a starting point. At that stage the page number is given, but no schedule number. The schedule column is left blank. The LDS transcript is then checked against an image of the return and a schedule number is then entered. Thus any blank in the schedule column denotes a temporarily unchecked entry.
To repeat, for the avoidance of confusion, this referencing file includes only the trees of WFHC correspondents that are on my computer, so as to show the WFHC reference numbers applicable to them. If an entry does not appear there, it could mean that there is a WFHC tree, but it has not yet been put on computer, there is a WFHC tree on computer, but the expected entry was not found or has been omitted by accident, or that there is no WFHC tree.
4.5 1891 BRITISH CENSUS OF CANNOCK (STAFFS)
The 1891 census differs from the 1851 - 1881 censuses in that it has a column to show the number of rooms occupied if less than 5 and three columns to show employment status. The indexed transcript here shows the number of rooms in the address column as 3R, 4R etc. The three employment columns in the returns are 12 = employer, 13 = employee and 14 = neither of these, the last-mentioned being intended to show self-employment in a one-man business. In this indexed transcript, the relevant number, 12, 13 or 14, has been added in the occupation column.
4.6 1911 BRITISH CENSUS “REFERENCING PLUS” FILE
The 1911 census became publicly available in January 2009. A referencing file for Whitehouse households was then started and contributions requested from WFHC correspondents. The columns are almost self-explanatory to anyone who has looked at an original schedule. The age column has been moved, so as to follow the “condition” (single, married etc.) column. This brings the format into line with that for the other censuses. The big difference from the other censuses is that the image of the original schedule is not referenced by any piece and folio system. To make the indexed transcript sortable, therefore, the residence as given in the bottom right-hand corner of the schedule is split into several columns and the address repeated against each person.
The original schedule normally gives the number of rooms. In this column, NS means “not stated”, i.e. there is a blank in the rooms box in the original schedule. Tr means that the data has been taken from the “Findmypast” transcript, which omits the number of rooms. It follows, also, that any entry with “Tr” in the rooms column against the head of household has a different degree of reliability from the other entries. That is to say, the “Findmypast” transcript might be better or worse than mine.
The “Findmypast” transcript also omits information about the number of children born alive, the number still living and the number who have died.
Temporarily, until the file grows larger, it has been put on the website in household order, denoted by the “oo” suffix in the file date. Of course, it can very simply be sorted by surname, forename and age.
4.7 1840 US CENSUS
This census, like its predecessors, names only the head of household and gives ages only as within ranges. Although these seem severe limitations, it does have its uses to check the numbers of children, on the assumption that the rest of the household consists of spouse and children. This assumption has been adopted in this transcript, the surname Whitehouse being simply repeated for all household members (except when it is known from another source that there is another surname involved).
Treatment of the surname follows the same rule as in the British censuses. Thus, if the name appearing is not WHITEHOUSE, but, say, WHITEHOUS, it is shown in the Surname column as WHITEHOUSE, but noted under "Notes" as a variant. This expedient has been adopted to ensure that the surname always sorts properly. Where there is a doubt about whether the surname is WHITEHOUSE, it has been included.
Forenames have been transcribed in the same literal manner as for the British censuses.
The original 1840 US census entry shows occupations in summary form as the number of people engaged in various categories. For example, the number “3” might appear under the heading “Agriculture”. In this transcript, this number is not shown, but, instead, the occupation “Agriculture” has been distributed in the most sensible-looking way, working from the oldest to the youngest males (excluding those aged 0 to 5) and if the quota is not fulfilled in this way, adding “Agriculture” against the oldest female.
The household members have been kept together by referencing the film roll and page numbers provided by “Ancestry”, followed by the number of the row on that page (obtained by counting) and finally the household number. The household number has been derived by listing the head as No. 1, wife as No. 2 and children in order of age range as Nos. 3 onwards. Where there are male and female children in the same age range, the males have been listed first.
There are a great many columns in the 1840 census, for listing coloured people, slaves, those with specified disabilities and the number of white people aged 20 or over who cannot read and write. All these items have been treated as “extras” and consigned to the “Notes” column of the transcript, the abbreviation CRW being used for the illiteracy column. As with the occupations, the number of illiterates has been applied to individual household members in the most sensible way.
The Whitehouse FHC reference number follows the same practice as for the British censuses. Thus, each genealogy registered with the WFHC is given a number. The reference is given only in the first row of each household.
In general terms (that is to say, relating to all US the census transcripts on this website), census referencing is not necessarily complete, as it is performed as and when files are digitised. Remember also that the first person in a household is not necessarily a Whitehouse. A question mark is used for the more doubtful references. If there is more than one reference number, some of which are more doubtful and others less so, semicolons are used to separate the more secure from the more doubtful. References are assigned on the basis of reasonable probability (rather than beyond all reasonable doubt). It is strongly recommended in the 1850 to 1880 censuses to call up the whole household by sorting first by Household Number alone, then sorting again by Piece, Folio and Schedule.
Because there are relatively few entries, the 1840 census transcript has been put onto the website in “household order”, that is to say sorted first by Household Number (HN) and then by Roll, Page and Row. Obviously, it could easily be re-sorted by forename and then state.
4. 8 1850 - 1880 US CENSUSES
The 1850 US census was the first to give all the household members and their occupations and exact ages. It does not state the relationship between the head and the others in the household. The birth place is that of the country (ENG = England) or State (see Section 3.2 above for a list of symbols). The questions asked differ considerably from those of the 1840 census, but, again, there are “extras” inserted in the “Notes” column of the transcript. The value of real estate is shown in dollars. Those who were noted as having married during the census year ending on 1st June 1850 are listed here, as are those who attended school (Att Sch). The census does not say how frequent an attendance was required ! The number of illiterates aged over 20 (CRW) in the household is noted against the head of household.
The 1860 US census is very similar to that for 1850, with the introduction of the name of the Post Office to better identify the place and with the addition of personal estate (PE) to real estate (RE).
The 1870 US census introduced further refinements. The Post Office designation disappeared. For those who were born or married during the year, the month had to be noted (although sometimes it was not).
The illiteracy column was split into two, for those who could not read and those who could not write. In the transcript, CRW denotes that both columns were marked, CW only the writing column. A rare case of someone who could not read, but could write, resulted in CR, but that seems suspiciously like an enumeration error.
The somewhat pompous heading “Constitutional Relations” resulted in nearly all men over 21 declaring themselves US citizens (USC).
Where father and mother are of foreign birth, this has been noted by the abbreviations FA fb, MO fb.
Welcome simplification arrived with the 1880 US census, since estate values were no longer required and the citizenship question was also dropped, but there was evidence of a new concern, since there was a question asking for how many months a person had been unemployed during the census year ending 1st June 1880.
On the other hand, the birth place of one’s father and mother had to be stated. Theoretically, it should be unnecessary to record this for children, but it was and did not always agree with the birth places given for their parents.
Where a couple married during the census year, this had to be recorded, but the month was no longer required. On the other hand, the month of birth of a baby did have to be stated (but sometimes was not).
In all the 1850 - 1880 censuses, the household members have been kept together by referencing the film roll and page numbers provided by “Ancestry”, followed by the House Number (HO) and the Schedule Number (SCH) and finally the Household Number (HN), being the order of the people as they appear on the original census return.
They have been uploaded sorted by surname, forename and age. To revert to household order, sort by Schedule number (SCH) and then by Household Number (HN) in a first operation, then by Roll (RO), Page (PG) and House number (HO) in a second operation. This is necessary to discover the WFHC reference of someone who is not a head of household - see Section 4.7 above.
5. HOW TO SORT IN EXCEL
Any number of columns can be sorted in Excel. I'm no computer expert and couldn't speak for other software.
It’s sensible first to make yourself an extra copy of the file as downloaded from the website. That file will normally be in order of surname, forenames, age. The following instructions show how to sort the copy file into household order, which is essential to get the best out of the resource provided.
The standard way of sorting for the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses of England & Wales and the 1891 census of Cannock works like this. First select what area of the file you want to sort. Usually, you will click on the very top left square (above Row 1 and to the left of Column A) to select the whole document. Then go to Data and Sort. You are then invited to sort three columns, first by (scroll down the menu in the box), then by (scroll down the menu in the box), then by (scroll down the menu in the box). It's best to click the circle "My list has a header row", as this will bring the column headings into the menu boxes and avoid confusion.
The file is normally put onto the website already sorted by surname, forename(s) and age. To view the household (and thus find the address and WFHC correspondent number), it is necessary to re-sort the file into "household order". Excel allows you to sort only three columns in any one operation. However, it's a well kept secret that any number of columns can be sorted, with a little patience. The principle is to sort the columns in ascending order of rank. In this instance, two sorting operations are needed. Do the first sorting operation by household number (HN) alone. Carry out a second sort by piece (PC), then folio (FO), then schedule (SCH). The result will be a sort by (1) piece, (2) folio, (3) schedule number and (4) household number - in other words, "household order".
Sorting the 1841 census of England & Wales requires three operations, but all will be well so long as you follow the instructions. Note that the last column, vicinity order (O), is of higher rank than household number (HN) and the column of lowest rank must always be sorted in the first operation. When applying the above principle, therefore, one has to reverse these two columns mentally. Do the first sorting operation by household number (HN) alone, as before. Secondly, sort by enumeration district (ED), page number (P) and vicinity order (O). Thirdly, sort by piece (PC), book (BK), folio (FO). Thus, the seven columns will have been sorted in their correct ranking, giving "household order".
Applying the same kind of procedure to the 1881 census referencing file as for 1841-1871, do the first sorting by schedule (SCH) and then by household number (HN). Carry out the second sort by piece (PC), then folio (FO), then page (PG).
The 1911 census file has been put on the website in household order. Household order is achieved by sorting by
House Number (Hse No) and then by household number (HN) in a first operation. In a second operation sort by Res. Cty, then by Residence (Town or Village) and finally by Residence (Street Address). This will show the separate households, but, of course, within any town or village, the order will depend on how the street address is given. A problem, not yet overcome, will be to make the residence town consistent, to avoid the same road appearing under two different town names. Of course, this file can easily be sorted from household order into name order by a one-stage sorting operation, by surname, forename and age.
Similar sorting principles can be applied to the1850-1880 US censuses, where household order is obtained by sorting by the schedule number (SCH) and then household number (HN) in a first sorting operation and then by roll (RO), page (PG) and house number (HO) in a second sorting operation.
Good hunting,
Keith