Censuses

There has been a census taken every ten years since 1801 with the exception of 1941. However, the early censuses only recorded the numbers of people and not names or where they were present at the time. The Little Gransden censuses for 1841-1911 are included on this website where possible but are otherwise available from genealogy websites or on microfilm or microfiche from Cambridgeshire Archives. It is now policy to only release the census information after 100 years so the 1921 census will be released in 2021.

It is important to note that the census recorded who was in a particular location on the census date: they did not necessarily live there.

Increasingly from 1851 the census recorded the full address and information about the dwelling. However this was initially of quite limited value as dwellings were rarely numbered or named in the early years and even road names were not given. This makes it particularly difficult to work out who lived (or was present) where. An attempt can be made to work out the detail by estimating which route the census taker might have taken round Little Gransden, the clues coming from such prominent houses as might be named. But even this is fraught with further difficulty because it relies on knowing, or at least assuming, which houses then existed.

National Archives gives more information about the census here.