Name Indexes and Transcripts
Name indexes and transcripts for the London censuses from 1841-1911 are available online, with full searchable transcripts and original images. A census name index is a list of names compiled from the census records, which enables you to search for a person by surname, forename and age. Transcripts are more detailed than indexes, and enable you to search across all the fields, such as occupation and address.
Transcribing the census for large counties like London is a mammoth task and a huge amount of manpower is required to compile these records.
To remedy this situation, two major UK-based genealogy companies, S&N Genealogy Supplies and British Data Archive, have funded a census name-indexing project, and have worked tirelessly to create indexes. S&N are also funding major transcription projects enabling millions of new records to be created. Thousands of volunteers, including small UK companies, societies and individuals, from all over the UK have since contributed to these projects and the transcripts are now available online at TheGenealogist.co.uk. The volunteers’ cultural, historical and geographical knowledge of the UK provide accurate results which gives these transcripts a distinct advantage over ones produced by companies outside of the UK.
Smaller UK-based companies, societies and individuals have been compiling census name indexes covering particular counties or areas. Cultural, historical, geographical knowledge of the UK and an interest in genealogy gives them an advantage in producing more accurate results than other companies outside of the UK.
