Messages are starting to flow again, so welcome to Carole Foster who has joined this week. ****** ****** ****** As it seems to be the time when people are asking about the dates of the census, I dragged this up from my e-mail archive ... "Each census was taken based on all persons resident at midnight Sunday / Monday night, so you will see lists which includes variations on the full list below ... 1841 - Sunday/Monday - 6th/7th June 1851 - Sunday/Monday - 30th/31st March 1861 - Sunday/Monday - 7th/8th April 1871 - Sunday/Monday - 2nd/3rd April 1881 - Sunday/Monday - 3rd/4th April 1891 - Sunday/Monday - 5th/6th April 1901 - Sunday/Monday - 31st March/1st April 1911 - Sunday/Monday - 2nd/3rd April 1901 is due for release on 2 Jan 2001, after which the 1911 will be accessible for confirmation only of a specific person at specific address (for a fee). Up to that date the same facility applies to the 1901 census." To understand the answer as to why the census time was set for midnight on the Sunday - Monday, one has to remember that the first census of the ten year cycle was taken back in 1801. This fact is often overlooked as the first four are not of much use to genealogists. At that time, the power of the church was much greater than it is now. Further, with the Industrial Revolution just getting into gear, the population was still to a great extent involved in agricultural pursuits, and less mobile as the railways were, at the time the census cycle began, i.e. the turn of the 19th C, still in the future. Thus with the religious restrictions on outside work on the Sabbath, this time slot was chosen by the government of the day in 1800, as it gave the best chance of the population being "relatively" stationary. The choice of day also would have allowed for a reminder from the pulpit, coupled to a reminder that the Enumerator's would be round to collect the forms/details starting the next morning. ****** ****** ****** Feel free to join in and present your own items. Peter Cook [email protected] List maintainer and Co-host with Barbara < [email protected] > of the ButeshireGenWeb mailing list.