Family History

Ancestry Library Edition
Censuses 1841 -1901, and all other Ancestry resources, are available free in Bedfordshire libraries. Click the link or the logo at the top of the 'Local and family history A-Z' page. At the home page, scroll down to see the link to the 'UK census collection'. . To see a list of all UK records, at the home page click 'Search' tab, then scroll down and under 'Browse by location' click 'UK and Ireland', then click the required country. At the list of records, click the 'View all...' link under each category
http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/ webingres/ bedfordshire/ vlib/ 0.local_studies/ local_studies_a_z.htm

Ancestry.com
Censuses 1841 -1901 are available here. Note that only the 1881 census is free. You can search the others free but there is a charge to see full results. At the home page, scroll down to see the link to the 'UK census collection'. To see a list of all UK records, at the home page click 'Search' tab then scroll down and under 'Browse by location' click 'UK and Ireland' then click required the required country. At the list of records, click the 'View all...' link under each category
http://www.ancestry.com

Census Online
Links to census records
http://www.census-online.com/ links/

Censusfinder
Links to free census records. The UK section includes some street directories and other records in addition to selected census records.
http://www.censusfinder.com/

Family History Online
Selected on-line records, including some census records, compiled by Family History Societies.
http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/

Familysearch
1881 census is available free here. At the site, find the search form for the 1881 British census as follows: click the 'Search' tab, then click 'Census' on the menu at the left, then select '1881 British Census' on the drop-down menu.
http://www.familysearch.org

Findmypast.com
1841, 1861, 1871, 1891 censuses
http://www.findmypast.com

FreeCEN: UK Census Online
1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 census records being added here but coverage not yet complete. Entirely free site. At the site, click 'Database coverage' in the menu on the left to see what percentage of each census for each county has been transcribed, then click 'Search the database' in the menu on the left. The Bedfordshire 1891 census has now been completely transcribed.
http://freecen.rootsweb.com/

National Archives
1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses are available from the National Archives site. Note that only the 1881 census is free. The others are free to search but there are charges to see full results. There is now a limited and more expensive service for details from the 1911 census, but a specific address from that census must be supplied
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ census/

Guides to censuses

British Genealogy.com
Useful details including census dates, how census referencing works, contents and how to search the National Archives online catalogue to find out which census piece number covers a certain place.
http://www.british-genealogy.com/ resources/ census/ index.htm

Family Records Centre
The 'Census Returns' section on this site gives factsheets on census returns and leaflets on how to use them.
http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/ frc/ research/ censusmain.htm

FamilyRecords.gov.uk
The 'Census' section on this site gives details of census dates, what details were recorded in each census, and how to access the censuses.
http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/ topics/ census.htm

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Page last updated: 29 September 2008

Family History

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