Matlock and Matlock Bath census transcripts : What's included on this website

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Census Transcripts, what's included on this website
Census transcripts for Matlock, Matlock Bath & District

For all transcripts except the 1841 census, which has separate notes.

Whilst these transcripts have been done as carefully as possible, it is still easy to misinterpret what the Enumerator wrote or to miss a mistake when checking through. Please do let me know if there is something you find that is different from the original.
The information here may differ slightly from other transcripts.

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Abbreviations

Presentation of information

To cut down on file sizes and make it easier to search for either an individual or a family I have slightly changed the order from that recorded on the actual census pages.

Under each Enumeration District for the census returns taken in 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 the information is given on pages within this website as follows:

In 1891 and 1901 the number of rooms, if less than five, was included for each dwelling. Also from 1891 onwards the census identified whether an individual was an employer, employee or worked for themselves.

For those who are not familiar with census returns there is an example of the column headings on a census page at the bottom of this page. There was space for up to a maximum of 25 entries per page on the earlier returns, though occasionally more were squeezed in. By 1901 there was space for 31 names per page.

Empty fields

If a field was blank, such as occupation, there is a dash in the transcription to indicate this. You will see -

Folio, Page and Schedule

As an aid for research these are given at the beginning of each line, as shown above. There is also a blank line between each folio to assist your search.

The folio numbers are given every 2 'pages'. In other words a folio consists of the front and back of a piece of paper. This number was stamped on by the PRO (now TNA) after the census had been enumerated.

The page number appears at the top of every census page.

The schedule number is the number given to a particular household as the Enumerator went around the district, and was not the number of the house. A schedule may span two pages, or even two folios. In the 1881 census some hydropathic establishments, identified as such because the occupation of head of the household was given as Hydropathist, were given two schedule numbers.

Address

The Enumerator did not necessarily fill in everyone's address (usually limited to road, but often to just the village or part of the town). Often the address only appears at the top of every page. Occasionally a building was singled out - e.g. Lodge - but the address only applied to that particular building. In Enumeration District 16 of the 1861 census the only clue to the address the enumerator recorded is found under "Hamlet or Tything .." at the top of each page, so where no address is recorded against a building it is shown here enclosed in [ ].
To aid research all addresses been included here.

Trade Directories of the time may help you discover a more precise addresses than that recorded in the census.

Unoccupied buildings

Unoccupied buildings included the schools, churches and chapels which were used during the day but where no one spent the night. Generally, an unoccupied building wasn't given a schedule number but there were some exceptions. Where a building was not occupied, it appears here in [ ].

Male or Female

Ages were recorded in two columns (see below), one for males and one for females. It isn't practical to do the same in these transcripts, so an additional column with m for male and f for female has been inserted. This is particularly useful to know when the Enumerator did not spell the name correctly - for example with the male Francis and the female version Frances.

Handicap - Deaf, dumb, blind, imbecile, etc

The Enumerators, or rather the government of the day who requested the information from the census returns, did not mince their words (see below). The Head of the Household was required to fill in the the very last column if someone was handicapped. To save space I have often included the handicap in [ ] where occupation should be though in the 1881 and 1891 transcripts this information follows the Birthplace

Hope you find the people you are seeking.

Example of the column headings used in the 1871 census of England & Wales

No. of Schedule	ROAD, STREET, &c., and No. or NAME of HOUSE	HOUSES	NAME and Surname of each Person	RELATION to Head of Family	CONDITION	AGE of	Rank, Profession, or OCCUPATION	WHERE BORN	Whether: 1. Deaf and Dumb 2. Blind 3.Imbecile or Idiot 4. Lunatic
		Inhabited				Uninhabited (U) or building (H)				Males	Females