1911 census- missing sections?

[GimmeBiscuits]

I'm wondering if anyone else had experienced the same issue.
Trying to find ancestors on the 1911 census and there is absolutely no sign of them, even allowing for mistranscription of surname.
I did a quick look on FindMyPast (address lookup) and am struggling to find some house numbers on particular streets which has made me question whether some sections are missing.
The family did move around a fair bit, but, only within a particular area.
They don't seem to be staying with family (checked under those surnames too).
Any ideas of next steps?

I know where they were in 1891, 1901, 1904, 1907, 1912 and 1921. But not 1911. Its really bugging me as there is a potential other child in the family, born between 1908-1910, according to third hand oral memories.

[whiteroseredrose]

Not sure which census but I found that one family was there on one of Ancestry/Find my Past, but not the other.

[WhereAreMyAirpods]

I don't think there are entire sections missed from the 1911 census. This was the "protest census" though and some suffragettes avoided the enumerator so if you suspect that they may have been involved in the votes for women protests, this might be an explanation.

However I have lots and lots of experience looking for people on census returns and usually the reason you can't find them is down to transcription errors. Have you tried searching using lots of wildcards, or searching for first name only and year of birth, or surname and occupation or similar?

[GimmeBiscuits]

@WhereAreMyAirpods

I don't think there are entire sections missed from the 1911 census. This was the "protest census" though and some suffragettes avoided the enumerator so if you suspect that they may have been involved in the votes for women protests, this might be an explanation.

However I have lots and lots of experience looking for people on census returns and usually the reason you can't find them is down to transcription errors. Have you tried searching using lots of wildcards, or searching for first name only and year of birth, or surname and occupation or similar?

Have searched for first name + place of birth (male of family changed occupation several times).
Looked for him, him + wife, him + children alive at that time (together and separately).
Looked for his wife in the same way.
Looked for all children, both separately and together.
At one point they lived next door to his wife's family, so have tried all of them + that surname in all combinations above.
I've searched all areas I know they lived in...
Totally stumped.
Every other census was properly completed so not sure there was any protesting. Maybe they were between house flits? School admission for one of the children implies they moved around at short notice.

[GimmeBiscuits]

@whiteroseredrose

Not sure which census but I found that one family was there on one of Ancestry/Find my Past, but not the other.

That's what I was hoping. I have access to both bur cannot find them. I think it was the address lookup on FMP that suggested to me that there may be omissions

When I say sections missing, I mean more like 2 pages or so in an area (so, for example, 31-34 xyz Street in Islington doesn't seem to flag up, but I can find house numbers before and after this 'gap')

[Saker]

Have you tried www.freecen.org.uk/ for a different source - sometimes the transcriptions on Findmypast are surprisingly careless. Freecen isn't complete though so it may just not be on there, but worth a try for a different transcriber.

[GimmeBiscuits]

@Saker

Have you tried www.freecen.org.uk/ for a different source - sometimes the transcriptions on Findmypast are surprisingly careless. Freecen isn't complete though so it may just not be on there, but worth a try for a different transcriber.

Thankyou, I hadn't thought of this.
My next best option seemed to be sifting through all the records for a Holborn parish, but I think freecen might be a better starting point! 😄

[WarningToTheCurious]

Have you also searched the GRO birth index using child’s surname and mother’s maiden name?

[Jules912]

There are a small number of records where either the index or the details have gone missing / been damaged over the years. Not sure if there are any areas where both have, but sounds likely if a whole street is missing.

[RedToothBrush]

@WarningToTheCurious

Have you also searched the GRO birth index using child’s surname and mother’s maiden name?

This.

You'll have more success doing this. It should bring up any child that died in infancy too.

It's a better resource for finding missing children than the census in my opinion.

[DisplayPurposesOnly]

there is a potential other child in the family, born between 1908-1910

Surely that would show up on the birth records? I would search FMP using surname, 1909 +/- five years and putting mother's maiden name in the advanced search options.

The missing 1911 census would bug me tho, and I'd keep looking!

[GimmeBiscuits]

The potential other child isn't registered anywhere, so I take it to mean a still-birth, as all the names I know of appear on the 1921 census, and there are no birth or baptism records. Possibly a death record but I'd need to order the certificate to confirm.

Unfortunately nothing on freecen, and nothing for the family with mother's maiden name.

I have recently discovered (not this family) a census gap, where 2 consecutive pages are missing from the scans online, and have reported this to FMP (on 1901 census). I'm going to go back to the address search and look at the 2 addresses given on birth certificates for 1907 and 1912, then check both 'sides' to see if the page numbers on the scans are all consecutive.

The father's occupation and place of work did not change between these 2 birth records so perhaps there is a way to look at employment information.

[WhereAreMyAirpods]

Stillbirths didn't have to be legally registered until 1927 in England. The stillbirth register from that date is closed - no public access. You can get access to it but this involves contacting the GRO and proving your need to know as a sibling, parent or similar.

Before 1927 there is likely to be no official record of any stillborn children in the births and deaths register. I have seen them listed in burials registers, but often as just "stillborn child of Jane Jones" without a sex or name, or date of birth, or any other details. It's hard to get your head around but a century ago attitudes were very different and stillbirths and infant death were things that every family would experience.

[GimmeBiscuits]

@WhereAreMyAirpods

Stillbirths didn't have to be legally registered until 1927 in England. The stillbirth register from that date is closed - no public access. You can get access to it but this involves contacting the GRO and proving your need to know as a sibling, parent or similar.

Before 1927 there is likely to be no official record of any stillborn children in the births and deaths register. I have seen them listed in burials registers, but often as just "stillborn child of Jane Jones" without a sex or name, or date of birth, or any other details. It's hard to get your head around but a century ago attitudes were very different and stillbirths and infant death were things that every family would experience.

Yes, it's very sad. I suspect this is likely. I may put this one on hold for a while and come back to them, in the hope that in due course, more records become available.
I've noticed on Ancestry that people add scans from their own records, and they come up fairly often.
As this family was reasonably extensive, there's a fair chance something may crop up.

[Saker]

On the 1921 census it has a column for all living children of a parent even if they are living elsewhere, so you should have a definitive answer as to whether the "missing" child is still living by the 1921. I have had families where one child has been missing off a census because they were staying with other family or in one case in a fever hospital. It's a shame that they no longer record children who have died as they did on the 1911 census.

[GimmeBiscuits]

@Saker

On the 1921 census it has a column for all living children of a parent even if they are living elsewhere, so you should have a definitive answer as to whether the "missing" child is still living by the 1921. I have had families where one child has been missing off a census because they were staying with other family or in one case in a fever hospital. It's a shame that they no longer record children who have died as they did on the 1911 census.

They're not living by 1921. What started me looking for them in 1911 was that on the '21 census the number of children born is one more than those I have birth records for.

[Saker]

@GimmeBiscuits

They're not living by 1921. What started me looking for them in 1911 was that on the '21 census the number of children born is one more than those I have birth records for.

But on the 1921 census, it is the number of living children (not dead), that is marked, so if that number doesn't correspond to the number of children listed on that schedule, presumably the child is alive but somewhere else?

[GimmeBiscuits]

^Sorry, should have been clearer. The number of children on the '21 census had been crossed out and replaced with one fewer. The fewer number was the amount I knew of. The original number suggested another child. Finding them on the '11 census would have helped.
I am going to "shelve" this family for a bit and see if anything turns up in six months or so.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.

[GrimDamnFanjo]

I have a family who I can see in the 1911 enumerators summary list but I've not located the actual census listing so I think it does happen.

[GimmeBiscuits]

I've now found pages missing from the 1861 census- different family, but even the indexing for it misses out 6 houses; street numbers jump and the page numbers at the top of the consecutive available pages are not numerically consecutive.

I don't seem to be having much luck!

[Whichnumbers]

I struggled to find someone on census, asked on rootschat and within days they’d been found. There are some seriously good researchers on that board

[ChocChipHandbag]

I like to use Find My Past to nose around who lived in houses in particular streets. I find that it is really common for entire chunks of streets not to appear on the 1911 census.