The Parish of Leigh in the County of -- Lancashire --

Censuses of Leigh Registration Districts

Notes: this section currently gives details of class / piece / folio references for all enumeration districts within Leigh Superintendent Registrar's District (SRD).

Throughout the tables in this section, Tyldesley with Shakerley is abbreviated to Tyldesley to save space. The Registrar's Sub-district known in the earlier years as Atherton and Tyldesley is abbreviated throughout to Atherton (which it became named later, though still including Tyldesley!). Finally, Westleigh is so spelt throughout, although in earlier years it was West Leigh

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Availability of Census Returns

Microforms

All censuses of England and Wales 1841-1891 are available on microfilm for consultation at the National Archives (formerly PRO) searchroom upstairs in the Family Record Centre in central London, and 1901 is available on microfiche for consultation at the National Archives main office at Kew (not at the Family Records centre where it is on-line only). National Archives reference numbers are given in the list below.

All these censuses 1841-1891 (but not 1901) are also available on microfilm (fiche for 1891) from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Family History Library (FHL) for loan to LDS Family History Centres and consultation there. The LDS have their own film or fiche numbers which they use instead of the National Archives reference and these are given in the tables below. They should all be prefixed "British". An LDS film may cover several pieces but pieces are not split between films.

In addition, Lancashire censuses 1841-1861 (as at 1998, probably more years by now) are available for consultation at Lancashire Record Office at Preston [refs MF24-26 respectively]. The censuses covering Leigh Superintendent Registrar's District (among others) 1841-1891 are also available at Wigan History Shop, and at Leigh Public Library (note: Leigh does not have Golborne and Kenyon 1841, Wigan does).

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How the Census Was Taken, and the Referencing System

Note: these details apply to the censuses from 1851 onward. Although the organization of taking the census was similar in 1841, the filing and reference system for the returns was quite different and is described at the beginning of the 1841 section.

Censuses were taken by staff employed by the Registrars of Births, Marriages and Deaths and the system reflects the organization of the registration service. Superintendent Registrar's Districts (SRDs) were created, based largely on the Poor Law Union boundaries, and hence often overlapping county boundaries. These were divided into Sub-districts (for birth and death, but not marriage, registration) and these Sub-districts were themselves divided into enumeration districts for census data collection.

The census was taken by enumerators who first went around their districts before census day, leaving forms (known as schedules) with each household. Then after census day they went round to collect the forms and, if necessary, to help people to fill them in as many were illiterate, especially in the earlier years. Finally, the enumerators copied the details into the census books as a separate operation. Thus the books which survive are not primary sources, they are in fact transcriptions done at the time, but unfortunately they are all we have as the original schedules have been destroyed.

When the 1851 returns were being processed, every SRD was given a number in a geographical sequence which started in London, following a winding path, county by county, around England until it reached Westmorland and then jumping to Monmouthshire and following a similar path through Wales to Anglesey. SRDs covering more than one county were numbered along with those in the county which contained most of the district, which explains why places near county boundaries are often found in the "wrong" county. (At the same time, the volume numbers used for the central copies of BMD registrations were also renumbered in the same sequence, although each volume covered several SRDs). Similarly the Sub-districts were numbered within each SRD. The numbers varied slightly over the years as new SRDs and Sub-districts were created and old ones abolished, but the basic sequence remained the same. Leigh was originally district 467; there was a renumbering before the 1871 census when it became 461 and then another before the 1881 census when it became 460. The sub-districts were always Lowton 1, Culcheth 2, Westleigh (later Leigh) 3 and Atherton 4. Finally the enumeration districts were numbered within the sub-districts - unlike the others, the numbering and boundaries of the enumeration districts change considerably from census to census.

The census books were collected together in numerical order of SRD number, Sub-district number, Enumeration district number. Then they were divided into "pieces" each of several consecutive books, probably on the basis of what made a conveniently sized package for storage. Finally, a folio number was stamped in the top right hand corner of the recto (front) side of each leaf in the books. Folio numbers run consecutively through a piece and start again from 1 with the next piece, and are not the same as the page numbers which run through each enumerator's book. Each folio number covers two pages of the book, the recto side on which it is stamped and the verso (back) of the same leaf.

A complete census reference thus comprises a series code (eg HO107, RG11, etc) identifying the year, a piece number, a folio number, and either a page number or the letter "r" or "v" to distinguish between the two sides of one folio.

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1841

This census is confusing to those used to the later ones. Although the enumeration districts are organized and numbered by SRD and Sub-district, the census books are not filed in this way. Instead, they are filed (more logically) by country (England or Wales), then county, hundred, ancient parish and township, in alphabetical order in each case (note that in this sequence Monmouthshire is filed with the English counties, not the Welsh ones). Cities and some Boroughs, which were not included in any hundred, were normally filed at the end of the county. This filing system means that the cross-border problems found on later censuses do not, in general, occur - each township is filed under the county in which it is actually situated.

The 1841 census is also unique in that the pieces are divided into sections, each containing several enumeration districts, and the folio numbers run within each section, not within the piece as a whole as in later censuses. Section numbers are given in the list below.

The censuses listed here cover the whole of Leigh ancient parish (all of which was in Leigh SRD) and four townships in Winwick ancient parish. Two of the latter (Culcheth and Lowton) were in Leigh SRD at this date, the other two (Golborne and Kenyon) were in Warrington SRD but were transferred to Leigh SRD later (in 1845) and have been included here for completeness.

Supplementary sources for 1841: images (no name index) on CD from Stepping Stones and from S&N British Data Archive

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1851

Note: in 1845 Golborne and Kenyon were transferred from Warrington SRD to Leigh SRD (Lowton sub-district, which was then split, Pennington and West Leigh moving to a new West Leigh sub-district)

Supplementary sources for 1851: printed surname and street index compiled by Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society (vol 17 covers Leigh SRD); images (no name index) on CD from S&N British Data Archive.

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1861

The enumeration district numbers in Culcheth Sub-district are all for some reason suffixed with a capital letter. The significance of the letters is not clear, since the numbers without the letters are sufficient to identify the districts. However, the letters do identify contiguous geographical areas - C refers to the southern part of the Sub-district, E to the north-eastern part and F to the north-western part.

Supplementary sources for 1861: images (no name index) on CD from S&N British Data Archive

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1871

Note: from about the mid-1860s Townships became known as Civil Parishes and this term is used from here onward.

Supplementary sources for 1871: images and partial name index on CD from S&N British Data Archive

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1881

Note: Leigh SRD is labelled in error as 461 (its old number) on the first page of every enumeration district. This has been corrected to 460 on the first page of each piece only.

Supplementary sources for 1881: indexed and searchable transcript on CD from LDS, available as a national set or in regional sets of which North Central region covers Lancashire and Yorkshire. This is essentially the same information as on the LDS website.

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1891

Supplementary sources for 1891: images and partial name index on CD from S&N British Data Archive

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1901

Note: the civil parishes of Bedford, Pennington and West Leigh, with a small part of Atherton, were merged to form Leigh in 1894. The former Westleigh sub-district was renamed Leigh, and expanded to include the small part gained from Atherton. The enumeration districts were laid out afresh, and in Leigh sub-district no longer adhere strictly to the old boundaries between Atherton, Pennington and Westleigh. In the table below, A indicates the former Atherton, B Bedford, P Pennington and W West Leigh.

Supplementary sources for 1901: images (no name index) available on CD from S&N British Data Archive

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