Getting information from earlier censuses
The 2001 Census was the twentieth full Census of population in Great Britain. Results from Censuses before the 1960s are in printed reports. More recent output was also in electronic form, and more is becoming available online.
Printed reports
Printed reports have been produced from all Censuses, to be laid before Parliament and made generally available. All findings were in reports until the mid decade 1966 Census, when there was the first release on electronic media, but the number of printed pages did not reach its maximum until 1991. Printed output was reduced in 2001 with the rapid shift to electronic media.
A complete set of the printed report is available for public access by arrangement in the Library at ONS headquarters in London, and Census Customer Services will provide figures from historic reports on request. There is no central list of library holdings of historic Census reports, but the British Library holds a set, and university libraries may also hold the reports. Major local reference libraries often hold historic reports.
Online
A limited selection of the findings of the 1991 Census are available online
historical monitors produced for the Census bicentenary in 2001, with articles celebrating 200 years of the Census.
'A Vision of Britain (through time)' between 1801 and 2001 - a site including statistical trends calculated for current local authorities, Census reports 1801 to 1961 with direct access to the main tables, supported by historic maps.
Comparability over time: topics and geography
The broad picture of population change can be followed from Census to Census, but changes in the questions asked, changes in the categories used to present results, and changes in geographical boundaries, all to keep up with changes in society, mean that each Census primarily provides a 'cross sectional' picture of the country at the time, and the Censuses do not necessarily give a good source of information about detailed change over time.
Elements of continuity may nevertheless be found, for example the boundaries of local government areas in England have not changed substantially between 1981 and 2001, after wholesale reorganisation in 1974. Figures of population change were provided in the reports on local areas, but this information was cut back in the 2001 reports.
Chapter 4 of the Census 2001 Definitions volume provides a guide to the comparability of the 1991 and 2001 UK Censuses in terms of questions, concepts and definitions. A comprehensive and striking picture of change between 1991 and 2001 is 'People and places: A 2001 Census Atlas of the UK' by Daniel Dorling and Bethan Thomas, The Policy Press (University of Bristol), 2004, ISBN 1 86134 555 0.
The range of questions asked has generally increased with each census. A summary of the topics covered by questions in successive censuses can be viewed or downloaded below.
The history behind the census
The 2001 Census marked 200 years of Census taking. See an introduction, written for a general readership, to census taking in the ancient world, through Domesday and beyond in Britain, to the early censuses between 1801 and 1831, and to modern censuses from 1841.
An account of the history of census taking can also be found within 'People count: a history of the General Register Office' by Muriel Nissel, HMSO, 1987 ISBN 0 11 691183 2.
More information
Contact Census Customer Services for queries about earlier censuses, commissioning special output and supply policies.
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