Site FAQs
Issue 21-6-2001
1871 Cornwall Census Frequently Asked Questions
QUESTION: What is the 1871 Cornwall Census?
ANSWER: Cornwall is located on the Cornish Peninsula in southwesternmost England.
It is bounded by Devonshire on the east, by the Bristol Channel on the north, the Atlantic
Ocean on the west, and the English Channel on the south. In ancient times the Cornish tin
and copper mines were celebrated. In fact the Cornish have been extracting tin from
Cornwall for at least 3,000 years. At first this was surface mining. By the 19th Century
many of the mines were as deep as 5,000 feet. Thus creating the extreme hazards of large
amounts of ground water and heat. Prices on the world markets were also unstable leaving the
Cornish miner no other choice but to migrate to other countries where their mining know
how gave them an advantage. From 1830 to 1900 320,000 people moved from Cornwall.
From 1801 the United Kingdom has taken censuses of its people every ten years. The Cornwall
Census taken Sunday, 2 April 1871 enumerated the people in the state of Cornwall,
England. It provides a valuable link between registered births, marriages and deaths after
1 July 1837 and locally held parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial, which
theoretically date from 1538.
QUESTION: What information was included in the 1871 Census?
ANSWER: From 1801 to 1831 the censuses were simply head counts with no personal
information on individuals recorded (except in exceptional cases). Beginning with the 1841
Census, personal information on individuals was recorded. The 1871 Census recorded the
following details about each individual:
- The Name of the Person
- Their Position in the Family
- Their Marital status
- Their age at the time of the Census
- Their occupation.
- Their place of birth
QUESTION: What do the abbreviations mean?
ANSWER: Most of the abbreviations extracted from the 1871 Cornwall Census we have
expanded to the full words. However, there may be a few that we missed. So
here are the abbreviations and their meaning:
- WI-----------------wife
- DA----------------daughter
- GD----------------granddaughter
- GS----------------grandson
- HD----------------head
- Lgr----------------lodger
- M------------------married
- U------------------unmarried
- NP----------------nephew
- NC----------------niece
- SCH---------------Scholar
- Sis----------------sister
- SO----------------son
- SV or Ser--------servant
- SL or SOLW-----son in law (this might mean stepson or something different than the
modern day usage of in-law)
- AG LAB---------agricultural Laborer
- FRMR-----------farmer
If you find other abbreviations not listed here and you would like to know what they mean please email
feedback@mytrees.com and we will research them.
QUESTION: Why can't I find my ancestor in the Census?
ANSWER: Here are a few reasons you may not find your ancestor in the 1871 Cornwall Census.
- 1. You may be using the wrong spelling for the last name. Some of the names were difficult
to read, for instance, Hallamore was extracted as Hallanan. Our search engine is looking for an exact
spelling of the surname you entered.
- 2. You are using the full first name and the index may contain an abbreviation for the first
name. Such as Tho for Thomas, Jas for James, Wm for William, Benj for Benjamin, Edwd for Edward, etc.
Try searching with just the first initial of the first name.
- 3. Your ancestor may have moved from the region before the Census was taken. The beginning
date for the Census was Sunday April 2nd 1871, but it would have taken many months to complete.
- 4. Your ancestors may have lived in close proximity to Cornwall but were enumerated with
one of the other English states.
- 5. The extractor may have made a typographical error in the entry of the age. If this happens
it will usually only effect one person in the family and the rest of the family data will be correct. Try
searching for other members of the family instead.
QUESTION: Who did this extraction?
ANSWER: The 1871 Cornwall, England census, was extracted through the volunteer
work of Richard and June Ross.
QUESTION: How do I see the rest of my 480 hits?
ANSWER: The search engine used for the Cornwall Census will only show the first 200 hits.
If your search returned more than 200 hits you will have to narrow your search by reducing
the date range or by adding a given name or initial to the search criteria.
To search the 1871 Cornwall Census,
click here.
For additional information about other Censuses for England and Wales see:
GenDocs-Census Returns for England & Wales.
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