UK Census Online

Laura Berry takes a look at a new census website that might just help you to locate those hard-to-find names

The company behind TheGenealogist.co.uk has launches a new, affordable website for accessing all census records for England and Wales from 1841 to 1911, plus the General Register Office indexes to births, marriages and deaths from 1837-2005.

The new platform at www.ukcensusonline.com has an index that allows users to search census returns using keywords likely to be found on the original page, such as an ancestor's occupation, place of birth, or likely place of residence. More than one keyword can be inserted into the search box to narrow the results. This innovation will be particularly helpful for finding people with common names.

I remember spending months searching for my great great grandfather Alfred Smith in 1901 on other census websites when I first started researching my family tree. So, I challenged the new website to find him by typing in his name, occupation ('cabman') and place of residence (known only as being somewhere in 'London') into the keyword box. The correct page was returned instantly. The wildcard search option was also useful for finding his six-month old daughter Rose - by typing 'Ros*' into the forename box, the results revealed that she had been recorded as Rosie on the 1901 Census.

As yet the search engine does not allow you to simultaneously search for the names of two people who should be found living together; however, detailed transcriptions are displayed on the results page, so you don't need to click on every entry to see how relevant it is. The results page also shows how many entries were located for each county and allows you to narrow the records to show just those for a particular county of residence.

Although the site is called UK Census Online, as yet the coverage only includes censuses for England, Wales, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands, but Nigel Bayley, Managing Director of S&N Genealogy (owners of TheGenealogist.co.uk and UKCensusOnline.com), promises that the company will expand coverage as and when licensing agreements allow.

Anybody who registers with www.ukcensusonline.com can choose from a monthly, quarterly or six-monthly payment options and decide whether to purchase access to censuses, England and Wales BMDs, or both. Access to BMDs alone starts from £6.95 a month, or an annual subscription to BMDs and the 1841-1911 censuses is £69.95 when paid up front, equivalent to £5.83 a month.

Detailed transcriptions on the results page makes it easier to identify the correct entry.
Thomas Hardy was found quickly by using the keyword 'author'.