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Accuracy of information

Example of early Census entry

How accurate is this information?

The information in the census records depends on the knowledge of those giving the information, the accuracy of those transcribing it and whether the person filling in the form was telling the truth!

In the 1841 Census for example a person's age was rounded down by the census recorder to the nearest five years. A person might not know their exact age particularly before the introduction of civil registration in 1855 so it may be recorded as unknown and you sometimes find that a person's age has not increased 10 years between censuses. It was not unknown for people to chop a few years off their age for the sake of vanity.

A person you might reasonably expect to be with a family may be missing because he or she may be living elsewhere or at sea or prison or working away from home. On the other hand you may find the family you are interested in has a visitor who may or may not be related to them.

At the Centre you can search lists of Scottish Merchant Seamen who were in port or away from home at the time of the 1851 Census in the e-Library.

People did lie on census forms for a variety of reasons so it's important to remember this when using the census in conjunction with other documents to trace your family line.