Family Historian User Group

Playing about without buying anything to prove my deductions, I was looking at where Grandpa and his family were in 1921. From the Electoral Registers, I believe that they were living with Nana's parents, presumably in her childhood bedroom. By specifying that address in the search, it looks like my belief is right. However, her parents (and siblings) do not appear in the "Also at this address pop-up". If I put a name of her parents against that address, then those do appear - but without Nana and Grandpa.

It looks like there are two schedules (numbers unknown) for that house but whether there were two sheets of paper issued, or a sheet piece split into two, I don't know.

The reason I mention this is because if you were reliant on searching for X and his in-laws in one house (as in Other Household Member) it might not work...

It probably depends on how the various family members considered their own status in the house. Did the younger generation consider themselves to be a separate household? If so, they probably had a separate schedule.

If you look back at at nineteenth century censuses it's very common to find multiple generations the same house. Sometimes they are recorded as a single household with a sinlge head, sometimes they are recorded as two or three separate households, with separate heads, all at the same address. The same family groups were sometimes recorded differently in successive censuses, even though the people involved were the same. In those days it seemed to depend on the whim of the census enumerator who decided whether to regard them as a single household or multiple. By 1921 the occupants themselves probably had more say in the matter!

LornaCraig wrote: ↑

06 Jan 2022 22:20

... In those days it seemed to depend on the whim of the census enumerator who decided whether to regard them as a single household or multiple. ...

Interesting - If I ever previously saw a house split between two households, with separate schedule numbers, then I suspect they were definitely separate households, so I didn't think anything of it. And according to the 1921 Enumerators' Instructions on Histpop, when considering whether a Boarder or Lodger were to have their own schedule, the driving question was whether they ate separately.

So Nana and Grandpa would surely have eaten with her parents and siblings (subject to the size of the table!), used the same kitchen, etc. Which instinctively made me think of them as one household. But I suspect that you're right - the only sensible answer is that old stalwart - It Depends..... It may pay to bear it in mind, especially with the number of my families that the Electoral Register shows me were living with parents / in-laws....

The instructions for the 1921 state that an application had to be made for separate returns if some members of 'a household' were unwilling to provide the personal information required to the 'Head' of the household responsible for completing the return. (See extract below.)

For any masochists out there, the full package of instructions and sample forms is available from The National Archives - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov. ... r/C3716641 It's a substantial PDF download!

Adrian,
It appears to be similar to the 1911 returns, where different households in same property were sometimes listed separately (it always pays to look at schedules either side of the one you want, to check this)
I’ve seen cases where married children and their family were on same sheet as parents, and on other occasions they were on a separate sheet.
I.e. consistently inconsistent

On the 1911 census, one of the documents revealed by the Extra materials button is a list. That would show where there are multiple schedules for the same address. See bottom left on the attached.

The one image I've looked at in the 1921 census doesn't have the list.

The most extreme example of two households in one property that I have seen was in the 1841 census. (Not separate schedules but clearly delineated as separate households).

Household 1: Head, wife and 10 year old son.
Household 2: 11 year old boy (nobody else).

Household 2 was actually the grandson of the Wife in Household 1 via her 1st husband (she was on her 4th husband by 1841) and being raised by her after he was orphaned, but something in the census instructions or the enumerator's brain consigned him to a different household.

Yes I have noticed this, Adrian. I have a 1921 example of one address that has THREE households and therefore three schedule documents: My great-grandmother and husband in one, her daughter and son in law in another, and her son and daughter-in-law in another. Worked out expensive to get the family! Interestingly, there is Boarder on the schedule of my great-grandmother and this made me look further into the rules. It appears that lodgers had a separate schedule, but boarders were included in the main family. I should imagine this has caused all sorts of confusion.

To make sure I haven't missed anyone at the same address, after downloading a record via Name Search, I then do an Address search for the given address and this will show multiple entries for the address if there are multiple schedules. I don't know if you have noticed, but hovering over the Transcript button will give you the names of the first three people on that schedule, plus the number of others. Or you can press to buy the Transcript, and it shows you at the top of the pop-up screen (but you don't have to buy).

If you are interested in a contemporary article on the 1921 census, I highly recommend Edith Abbott, The English Census of 1921.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1822472.pdf

Adrian

One thing that article explains, is why the census date was in June, but the Address page of the Schedule says it will be collected on Monday, April 25th

satyricon wrote: ↑

07 Jan 2022 17:14

One thing that article explains, is why the census date was in June, but the Address page of the Schedule says it will be collected on Monday, April 25th

Ooops!

jelv wrote: ↑

07 Jan 2022 08:10

On the 1911 census, one of the documents revealed by the Extra materials button is a list. That would show where there are multiple schedules for the same address. See bottom left on the attached.

The one image I've looked at in the 1921 census doesn't have the list.

We don't have enumerators' summary sheets for this census. There are Plans of Division.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov. ... /C17480316

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hel ... s-records/

In 1921 there are household schedules, as in 1911, but there are no enumerators’ summary books as there are for 1911. Instead, there are ‘Plans of Division’ which describe the boundaries and contents of each enumeration district.