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Original poster

Why can I not find this entire family in the 1911 census?

27 replies

SomewhereOnlyWeKnew · 04/05/2021 18:15

I know:

The parents' names
The names of their six children
The birth months/years and birthplaces of their six children (all between 1895-1911)

None of them are coming up in the 1911 census. I'm searching the databases on Find My Past.

Why would this be?

OP posts:

HilaryBriss · 04/05/2021 18:21

Most likely because their surname has been mistranscribed.

If you want to give some details, I can have a look on ancestry.

winkygirl · 04/05/2021 18:22

I have ancestry membership and am happy to look on there in case the transcription is different.

I know how frustrating it is to come to a blockage in the records.

VienneseWhirligig · 04/05/2021 18:32

Perhaps the head of the household didn't complete the census record?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families

Original poster

SomewhereOnlyWeKnew · 04/05/2021 18:33

Thank you so much for the offer of helping, I have sent a DM and would really appreciate any light you could cast!

@VienneseWhirligig that may indeed be the case but how frustrating if so!

OP posts:

MaggieFS · 04/05/2021 18:38

Could they have moved for work/been in the military? My aunt has done a vast amount and we keep finding gaps which we've since filled in when they moved to Scotland for a few years and later were posted to India.

whiteroseredrose · 04/05/2021 18:43

I'd second the spellings. I have family members called Soames. On documents I've found it spelled Somes, Soams, Somers and more.

There was a lot of illiteracy then, and a census taker went from door to door.

Try pronouncing it in a strong accent and guess how you'd spell it!

Also, it depends on how it has been transcribed. Ss and Fs can be mixed up too.

HilaryBriss · 04/05/2021 18:45

Found them - I have sent you a DM.

Original poster

SomewhereOnlyWeKnew · 04/05/2021 18:54

@HilaryBriss you are a wonderful person! Thank you so much for taking the time!

OP posts:

WeatherwaxOn · 04/05/2021 18:56

@SomewhereOnlyWeKnew

I know:

The parents' names
The names of their six children
The birth months/years and birthplaces of their six children (all between 1895-1911)

None of them are coming up in the 1911 census. I'm searching the databases on Find My Past.

Why would this be?

Sorry OP, just quoting your post because I have exactly the same issue with one of my family lines. I have names, years of birth, places they lived either side of the census but they just don't appear. I'm wondering if some addresses were not transcribed, or so wrongly transcribed (in conjunction with their names) that they are not there.

Actually, I am slightly misinforming you; I found one member of the family, in the right area, at the house of a great-aunt, but they are listed as grandmother & grandchild, which they were not.

I am using FMP too - I have asked a friend who has Ancestry to look and she hasn't been able to find them either.

newnortherner111 · 04/05/2021 19:42

It's possible that they did not complete the form. Perhaps away at a relative on the day the census was held.

Though the other suggestions above may help.

Anniissa · 04/05/2021 19:47

I think for my family the spelling of the surname changed pretty much every census and between family members (two brothers with same surname spelt completely differently). Sometimes it was how it was written on the form and sometimes it was clearly mistranscribed in the census site. I got quite creative at guessing the different ways it could be written - I think I stopped counting at over 30 different spellings.

Original poster

SomewhereOnlyWeKnew · 05/05/2021 12:35

An update - thank you to @HilaryBriss and @winkygirl for doing some digging, that was very kind of you indeed.

The reason I couldn't find the family is their surname on the actual census itself is completely different to their real name. It's not even similar. It isn't a family name and none of my family have a clue where it came from or why they decided to use it on the night of the census?!

I guess it will forever remain a mystery!

OP posts:

NetballHoop · 05/05/2021 12:38

Glad you've found them. As a sign that I watch/read too much crime, my first thought was "Witness Protection".

ShowOfHands · 05/05/2021 12:38

I had a few mysteries like this with entirely fictitious names on the census. I traced other living descendants to see if they could help and had SO many questions answered. And things a census would never have told me like spells in a workhouse, infidelity, scandal and the like.

It's a long shot but can you trace any living family members descended from the same family?

winkygirl · 05/05/2021 12:57

It will be interesting to see what name they used on the 1921 census! Not long to wait now...

terrywynne · 05/05/2021 15:05

@WeatherwaxOn just remember with declared relationships that the enumerator could write it down wrong or people could lie. It was harder to double check... I have relatives who declared themselves married for several censuses including giving a long marriage duration on the 1911 census. It's thanks to technology today that I was able to find their marriage certificate - from about 5 years before the 1911 census!

Lancelottie · 05/05/2021 15:10

I’ve just found a missing ancestor who is down as Maurice on one census and Maureen on the next, which would certainly be unusual for the era

terrywynne · 05/05/2021 15:16

@Lancelottie

I’ve just found a missing ancestor who is down as Maurice on one census and Maureen on the next, which would certainly be unusual for the era

Is that in the transcription for the digital service or the actual original document?? I have seen some bad original handwriting but also some dreadful transcriptions over the years!

mateysmum · 05/05/2021 15:18

The 1911 census was the first where the householders themselves filled in the form. This led to some amusing entries eg: Joe Bloggs - Head of household and the wife has written "he thinks he is". Other people included their pets. So it's possible your relatives were census deniers and were taking the proverbial.
Are there any other instances where they used the same name? Could open a whole new line of research.

mateysmum · 05/05/2021 15:18

Lancelottie Are you sure they weren't trans

mateysmum · 05/05/2021 15:20

Terrywynne I have precisely the same. Claimed been married for 23 years when in fact the truth was 5 yrs. All to hide the fact their son was illegitimate.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/05/2021 15:28

Intriguing. Are they all present and correct on the 1901 census? The parents and the DC who had been born by then, obviously.

Lancelottie · 05/05/2021 15:34

Transcription error rather than transition, I think!

GrimDamnFanjo · 05/05/2021 15:48

It took me 15 years to find one of my main ancestor families in the 1901 census. I had given up.
My tip is to try and locate other members of the family.
Here's my path to discovery.
S1 is my direct ancestor.
S2 her sister changes her name when she is baptised as a Methodist. I discover the name change in records so look for her under her new name in 1911. Find she has remarried for a second time.
Look back to see what new husband was doing in 1901.
He was married to S1 and her children had taken his name too.
15 years....

IReallyNeedMoreGin · 05/05/2021 16:10

@SomewhereOnlyWeKnew

An update - thank you to *@HilaryBriss and @winkygirl* for doing some digging, that was very kind of you indeed.

I guess it will forever remain a mystery!

Have you tried searching their original names on the newspaper archives? Maybe there was a scandal and they moved and changed their name? Worth a try!

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