1911 United Kingdom census

{{Short description|Census of the population of the United Kingdom}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use British English|date=March 2026}}{{Infobox census | name = Census 1911 | previous_year = 1901 | previous_census = 1901 United Kingdom census | date = 2 April 1911 | next_year = 1921 | next_census = 1921 United Kingdom census | country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] }} The '''United Kingdom Census 1911''' of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide [[census]] conducted in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England and Wales,<ref name=population>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/AA2010/aa2010final.pdf National Statistics Online] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629184711/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/AA2010/aa2010final.pdf |date=29 June 2011 }} Retrieved 9 November 2017.</ref> 4,761,000 in Scotland,<ref name=population/> and 4,390,000 in Ireland.<ref name=IrishCensus>[http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census fragments and substitutes, 1821-51.] The National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 6 July 2017.</ref>

==Geographical scope== The census covered England, Wales, [[Scotland]], the [[Channel Islands]], and ships of the [[Royal Navy]] at sea and in ports abroad.<ref name=natl>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/census-records/#5-understanding-the-census General Register Office: 1911 Census Schedules.] ''The National Archives''. Retrieved 6 July 2017.</ref>

The [[Census of Ireland, 1911]] was carried out on the same day but the records are held separately by the [[National Archives of Ireland]].<ref name=IrishCensus/>

==Questions== The 1911 census was the first to ask about nationality, the duration of current marriage, number of children born within that marriage, number of living children and the number of any children who had died. It was the first to record full details of [[British Army]] personnel stationed overseas instead of requiring just a simple headcount.<ref name=natl/> It was also the first census where the forms were completed by the respondents and retained rather than being copied into the [[Census Enumerators' Books|enumeration books]].<ref name=natl/>

The census forms (schedules) contained an address and schedule number and were divided into sixteen columns:<ref name=natl/>

* Name and Surname. * Relationship to Head of Family. * Age (Males). * Age (Females). * Marital condition. * Number of years married (present marriage) - Married women only. * Children born to present marriage. * Children still living. * Children who have died. * Occupation. * Industry or service with which worker is connected. * Employment status. * Whether working at home. * Birthplace. * Nationality - if born in a Foreign Country. * Infirmity. * Language spoken. (On the Welsh census)

Schedules were also prepared for:

*Institutions (workhouses, hospitals, hotels, schools, etc.). *Shipping (merchant vessels). *Military establishments (barracks, training schools, British Army overseas, etc.). *[[Royal Navy|Royal Naval]] vessels (in home ports).

== Suffragette boycott == {{See also|1911 United Kingdom census boycotters}} [[File:Emily Wilding Davison by Andrew William Dron.jpg|thumb|[[Emily Davison]] hid in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] to be enumerated in Parliament.]] This [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] was subject to protests by [[Women's suffrage|women seeking the right to vote]] in the UK.<ref name="Liddington">{{Cite book|title=Vanishing for the vote: suffrage, citizenship and the battle for the census |last1=Liddington|first1=Jill|last2=Crawford|first2=Elizabeth|date=2014|publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=9780719087486|language=English|oclc=861673182}}</ref> Several suffragette organisations urged women and supporters of women's enfranchisement to boycott the census.<ref name="Liddington"/><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Paxton|first=Naomi|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvnb7rqg|title=Stage rights!: The Actresses' Franchise League, activism and politics 1908–58|date=2018|publisher=Manchester University Press|jstor=j.ctvnb7rqg|edition=1}}</ref> The movement was also advertised by suffragist and writer [[Laurence Housman]] through a series of articles published in ''The Vote'', in which he argued for the reasoning and tactical benefits of the proposal.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Liddington|first1=Jill|last2=Crawford|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Maund|first3=E. A.|date=2011|title='Women do not count, neither shall they be counted': Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the 1911 Census|journal=History Workshop Journal|volume=71|issue=71|pages=98–127|doi=10.1093/hwj/dbq064|jstor=41306813|s2cid=154796763|issn=1363-3554|doi-access=}}</ref> He also wrote fiction supporting the movement, setting this series in a potential future where the boycott went well.<ref name=":7" />

Some [[suffragettes]] like [[Joan Cather]] refused to fill in the forms, which were returned with sloganned stickers, such as "Votes for Women" or other slogans on their census returns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/suffragettes-on-file/census-boycott/|title=The National Archives - Homepage|last=Archives|first=The National|website=The National Archives|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-08}}</ref> Her husband supported her position as he annotated the Census form that he had 'conscientious scruples' as head of household to note any 'female occupants' to avoid the census statistics being used by legislators for 'further vexatious legislation' against women 'in which they have no voice'. He went on to say he would provide the information if the [[Conciliation Bills|Conciliation Committee Bill]] passed into law. The Registrar did however note two females as 'the probable number'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://womanandhersphere.com/2014/01/|title=January 2014|website=Woman and her Sphere|language=en|access-date=2019-11-08}}</ref>

Other suffragettes evaded the census by hiding overnight so that they could not be counted. In places throughout the UK, activists organised rallies or threw parties for suffragettes away from home, some for recreation, others for making political statements. [[Dorothy Evans]] organised parties for census boycotters in [[Birmingham]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crawford |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Crawford (historian) |date=2013-11-07 |title=Suffrage Stories: The 1911 Census: More Birmingham Boycotters |url=https://womanandhersphere.com/2013/11/07/suffrage-stories-the-1911-census-more-birmingham-boycotters/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Woman and her Sphere |language=en}}</ref> while [[Annie Kenney]] organised the census boycott in [[Bristol]],<ref name="Liddington"/> and [[Lillian Dove-Willcox]] organised the boycott in [[Trowbridge]].<ref name="Liddington"/> [[Margaret Nevinson]] was at home in Downside Crescent in [[London]], harbouring an undetermined number of women who did not wish to be included in the census; an official copy of the census schedule survives, with a note on the refusals and their reason.<ref name="Liddington"/> Her husband and fellow suffragist [[Henry Nevinson|Henry]], deliberately absent from home, went skating, dining with [[Evelyn Sharp (suffragist)|Evelyn Sharp]] and other census resisters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=John |first1=Angela V. |title=Rocking the Boat: Welsh Women who Championed Equality 1840-1990 |date=15 August 2019 |publisher=Parthian Books |isbn=978-1-912109-22-7 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnDpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT94 |language=en}}</ref> Most famously, [[Emily Davison]] hid herself in a cupboard in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] at the [[Palace of Westminster]] overnight, becoming, when found, listed on the form as an occupant of the building.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Palace of Westminster Official Guide|year=2012|publisher=Houses of Parliament|page=17|isbn=978-0-95620-292-5}}</ref> She could thus be enumerated in Parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Emily Wilding Davison and Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-studies-women-parliament/ewd/ |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=UK Parliament}}</ref>

The impact of the census boycott is unclear. [[Margaret Nevinson]] wrote in the ''Suffrage Annual'' that some thousands of women did not appear in the census for that reason. The estimate by [[Agnes Metcalfe]] that the figure was at least 100,000 is doubted.<ref name="Liddington"/>

==Online access== The census data was published online on a subscription basis in 2009.<ref name=natl/>

==See also== *[[Census in the United Kingdom]] *[[List of United Kingdom censuses]]

==References== {{reflist}} {{s-start}} {{succession box |before=[[United Kingdom Census 1901|1901]] |title=[[Census in the United Kingdom|UK census]] |years=1911 |after=[[United Kingdom Census 1921|1921]] }} {{end}}

[[Category:Censuses in the United Kingdom|1911]] [[Category:1911 in the United Kingdom|Census]] [[Category:April 1911 in Europe|United Kingdom]] [[Category:1911 censuses|United Kingdom]]