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Census-taking has a long history. It being undertaken in ancient times to work out how many could be taxed and how many men could be called to arms in times of war.
Before the Census
In Britain the Domesday Book compiled by William the Conquerer in 1086 was a kind of census, which recorded land, property and the numbers of life stock, as well as the number of able-bodied men.
From then until 1801 the only records of the population kept in Britain were the parish registers - recording baptisms, marriages and burials - which have kept since 1536. But it should be mentioned that ad hoc censuses of particular communities were occasional compiled by inquisitive individuals for a whole variety of reasons. One such listing was compiled in June 1701 by Thomas Allen vicar of Stoke-upon-Trent.
Attempts at undertaking a census in the mid eighteenth century were frustrated through opposition in the House of Lords. As one peer remarked: -
To what end should our number be known, except that we are to be pressed into the fleet and the army . . . And what purpose will it answer to know where the kingdom is crowded and where it is thin, except we are to be driven from place to place as graziers do their cattle?
The First Census
It was 1801 before the first proper census was held in Great Britain. This and the following three censuses were little more than simple head counts of the population compiled by the guardians of the poor in England and Wales, and schoolmasters in Scotland.
In 1841 the first modern census was held. Thousands of enumerators were employed to distribute census forms to each household in the country. The census form asked for the names, occupations, ages and birthplaces of each individual who lived in the household. Once collected the enumerators copied their forms into census enumeration books, which were followed to Somerset House in London where the Registrar-General and his staff compiled the census abstracts.
Although the number of questions asked on the census form has increased and information is now requested on household amenities and car ownership, the organisation of the census remains essentially the same as it was in 1841.
The Census Goes to War
Since 1841 a census has been held once ever ten years with the sole exception of 1941. In September 1939, just after the declaration of war with Germany, a special enumeration of the population was undertaken partly to look at the distribution of the population following the mass evacuation of children to the countryside, but mainly to compile a list of everyone's name and address to help in the distribution of ration books. This, however, fell short from being a full census because members of the armed forces were not counted.
The Census Today
Today responsibility for undertaking the census in England and Wales lies with the Office of National Statistics. The information collected is used to help the government and local authorities to plan for the future. To help determine the needs of the population for houses, schools, medical services, public transport, shopping centres and so on.