STEP-BY-STEP: SEARCH THE LOCAL AREA

Use the detailed descriptions of census areas to find specific addresses, even where there are mistakes in the transcriptions.

1

If you’re fairly sure that your ancestors stayed put, despite their apparent absence from the records, then it’s worth devoting some more time to detailed checks. Try and find them in the records either side of their disappearance. Find their home address in other censuses, and familiarise yourself with nearby streets and properties. 2 Ancestry.co.uk is a useful tool for searching in a particular area. Find your ancestors in an earlier or later census, and have a look at the parish or enumeration district details at the top of the screen.

The first page of each district should be a written description of that area.

3

Districts weren’t the same from one census to another, but when you go back to your problem year, you can browse the districts and find one that covers the same area. Then check through individual pages until you find the relevant street. You may find that your ancestors are there, but missing from the index for some reason.