I've picked up from other lists recently that any census taken prior to 1841 was for statistical reasons only - details were not recorded - only numbers. Below is a posting from another list that explains what is/isn't available census-wise - but I doubt it's gospel and many family history societies are busy transcribing their own areas: (Q - question, A - Answer) Does anyone know the best way to look up census info for each year? Q. 1831 - does it exist? A. like the 1801-1821 censuses - mainly totals - a few names of heads of household - not much published Q. 1841 ? A. some counties on CD from Stepping Stones etc, apparently from films (not the originals) and quality very variable with many 'blank pages' - a few indexes Q. 1851 - online subscription to genealogy.com which purports to have the complete census, but is it really complete? When someone did a lookup for me in that year (and I don't know what source he used), he had individuals that weren't on my online census from genealogy.com. What is another way to check that census? A. the best way in my experience is to get local indexes done by FHSs - quite widespread but variable in quality - you then get photocopies of relevant pages at or from reference libraries, LDS FHS centres etc Q. 1861 ? A. some indexes, not vast coverage Q. 1871 ? A. some indexes, not vast coverage Q. 1881 - CD's, any other source? A. on-line via the LDS/IGI (i.e. Mormon's) website & quite easy to use Q. 1891 - ancestry.co.uk-free two week trial - what's another way to see it once the trial runs out? A. don't know - a few publications in various formats Q. 1901-PRO online, free index, pay to see images. Does the decoder software make it free to see images? A. not sure what you mean by the 'decoder software' - index information free and some software available to extract as much data as is allowed, but they (PRO) have modified the site to make this less easy - you must pay to see the original images Q. When people offer to do census lookups, do they have CDs or something? Can CDs be obtained for each year? A. no - CDs mainly for 1881, some areas for 1841 (but buyer beware) and odd bits and bats for other years, printed or fiche indexes for 1851 (with a few going onto CD, but they are still only indexes) Tracy Listowner