Denbighshire Record Office at the Old Gaol, Ruthin, is now able to offer researchers free access to the 1911 Census thanks to a generous grant from CyMAL,
The census is on the Findmypast website, which enables you to search the census simply and quickly to discover how your family lived in the past.
The 1911 census contains a record of every person living in England and Wales on the night that the census was taken. It provides a unique snapshot of the life of each household on 2 April 1911, it is the first of its kind, showing the handwriting and signatures of each householder. It also includes information on everyone who was living in a house on census night including numbers of children, and other relatives and lodgers in the house, revealing how crowded most houses were in comparison to today. On rare occasions the householder even recorded the names of pets, as shown in this extract from the official website:
“It seems many of our ancestors were animal lovers, even going so far as to record their pets on their 1911 census returns. Some of our customers have been unearthing some rather touching records such as that of Mr and Mrs Arthur John Delve in Smethwick who recorded their pet dog, Biddy at the bottom of their household form. Biddy was described as the couple’s “faithful Irish Terrier Bitch, Magnificent Watch, a demon on Cats and Vermin, age 11 years.”
Denbighshire Record Office is open 9.30 – 16.30, Tuesdays to Fridays. Email: [email protected], Tel: 01824 708250.
