In the conduct of the census these days we are given forms which we are expected to complete and these are then collected by an official. When the census was first conducted in 1841 many people could not read or write and therefore the information was collected by an enumerator visiting all the houses in a parish and recording the information. The information in the 1841 Census was fairly elementary and, whilst there have been changes over the years; the general pattern was set in the 1851 Census. As an example I show a typical page from the 1851 Census but I'm not sure whether people will be able to read all the detail.

On the top you will see that this is taken from a census of the Parish of Penmachno and in particular for the village of Penmachno in that parish. In some parishes there could have been more than one village. If you go to the full records you will find that the parish is divided into a number of Enumerator Districts dependent on the size of the parish. The first column gives the sequential number of each dwelling house that the enumerator visited. The second column gives the name of the house or street (usually with a number). This page shows five houses in Glanypwll and there is a sixth house on the next page. This was a terrace of houses which were renovated in 2006 and will hopefully still be standing in another 150 years. When I was a child living with my grandparents in Penmachno I remember that we used to visit someone living in Glanypwll and what stands out in my memory were the toilets. These were built at the end of the terrace over a small stream, so they had a water toilet which was far superior to that at my grandparent's small farm which was a hut with a seat with a bucket underneath whose contents had to be buried periodically in a field!

Before the bridge was built to cross the river Machno the main means of crossing the river was by means of a ford near to Glanypwll. When first built this terrace was therefore on the main route from Lleyn to the markets in Denbigh and Rhuthun, i.e. the main highway in its day.

The third column shows the name and surname of the persons staying in the house on the night of 30 March 1851 and the fourth column gives the relation of each person to the Head of the Family. The last entry on the page shows the name of William Williams, the Head of the Family who was my great, great grandfather; Ellin Williams, his wife and David Jones, his father in law. From this I can see that Ellin's father was David Jones. Against other entries in the fourth column you can see "son" or "dau". The fifth column is headed "Condition" which means the marital status. The "U" means unmarried.

The sixth and seventh columns give the age of each person, the sixth for males and the seventh for females. From this I can see that William is 25 which gives me the clue that he was born around 1826 which I can use to try to establish his date of birth. Ellin was 20 and therefore born around 1831. This information is consistent with the record on grave B007 in the St Tudclud Memorial Inscriptions published by the Gwynedd FHS which show that Ellin died aged 34 on 1st March 1865 and that they were then living at Bryn Madog. The census will show where people were living at the census date but to find any movements between these dates you have to go to other records.

The eighth column shows the "Rank, Profession of Occupation" which shows that both William and his father in law were quarry men and Ellin was a quarry man's wife. The ninth column is headed "Where born". All except one person on this page were born in "Caernarvon Penmachno", i.e. this column shows the county and the parish. This is important information in tracing your ancestors as it give you the clue as to where to search for a person's birth details.

The census data gives a wealth of information to help you trace your ancestors and is an important part of the jigsaw that you are trying to complete. In Blog No. 7 back in March I showed the Birth Certificate of William and Ellin's first son, William my great grandfather, who was born in Glanypwll on 29 November 1851. Unfortunately most of the 1861 Census records for Penmachno, as is the case for many other parishes, are missing and I can't find William and Ellin so I can't tell when they might have moved to Bryn Madog where Ellin died in 1865.

Gwynedd FHS Library will be open on the afternoon of Saturday 15 November
The GFH Society meetings for the next 4 weeks are:

Bangor, 4 November (first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Kent, "Welsh Highland Railway Update"

Caernarfon, 27 November (last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the The Library, Lôn Pafiliwn: J Elwyn Hughes, "Byd go iawn Un Nos Ola Leuad"

Dolgellau, 13 Tachwedd (second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel Brian Paul, "Bywyd Samuel Holland"

Llandudno, 10 November (second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn (please note new meeting place):
Neil Sutton, "Mercy Ships".

Llangefni, 20 November (third Thursday of each month) 7.15pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: David Price "J J Dodd, A Victorian Painter"

Pwllheli, 21 November (third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod:
Elwyn Davies, "Cyfenwau"

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