Counting
people and collecting information about a country's population is not
a new idea. In ancient times, the Egyptians used this type of information
to help them build the pyramids and to give out land following the annual
flooding of the Nile. The Romans also had regular Censuses. In the nativity
story, Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to take part in the
Census ordered by Caesar Augustus, which required every man in the Roman
Empire to return to his birthplace and be counted.
In the United Kingdom (England and Wales),
government censuses have been taken every ten years beginning in 1801
with the exception of 1941, which was cancelled because of World War II.
In the United States of America the first
census was taken in 1790 and repeated every 10 years uninterrupted although
3 of these censuses have been lost or destroyed.
In Canada census records were taken as early as 1666 with Canada’s
first national census taking place in 1871. Only 1901 and 1911 are presently
available online for viewing and they are the only two that have been
indexed by surname.
TREVERTON’s
by CENSUS
When searching for TREVERTON’s in the census
records for the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, I have,
in every case, viewed an original image of the actual census record as
enumerated for that particular year. Wherever possible I have traced an
individual or family through the various census years in or to validate
the accuracy of their surname. Where an individual could not be located
using a surname index or variation thereof, I have searched for them geographically
based on where they had previously resided, their place of birth, family
origins, etc.
The family researcher should be aware that the mass indexing of surnames
by a third party (an online website) is not 100% reliable nor is the spelling
accuracy of many of the surnames that appear on the original census entries.
For example, utilizing a well known online website I located 182 individual
TREVERTON’s that were recorded in the 1861 census for the United
Kingdom. Of these, the surname for 62 of them was either misspelled or
mistranscribed on either the original census record or the online surname
index. They appears as follows: Freverton, Ireverton, Leverton, Newton,
Sreverton, Tiverton, Traverton, Trenneton, Trererton, Tresorton, Treventon,
Trevertin, Treveston, Treveton, Trevorson, Trevorton, and Triverton.
As you can see, researching census records for a family ancestor is not
always an easy task. If an ancestor can’t be found in a surname
index it doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she isn’t there.
In many cases a researcher will have to explore a family in multiple census
years in order to determine the actual spelling of the surname taken by
the family.
In the United States of America, and to
a lesser degree Canada,
I believe that there were additional TREVERTON’s residing in both
countries during their respective census years that I have not as yet
been able to locate/document. I believe their surname was recorded using
a wide range of spellings as census enumerators in both the United States
and Canada were not well versed in the spelling of Cornish surnames and
were unfamiliar with the varying accents of the inhabitants. What the
resident reported and what the census enumerator heard may have been entirely
different.
TREVERTON’s by CENSUS
I have an extensive database
for the census records of all the countries and years as listed below.
By clicking on any given year you will be able to view a corresponding
spreadsheet that lists all known (found) TREVERTON’s for that particular
timeframe.
You will note that at the top of each spreadsheet I have included the
total number of TREVERTON’s located, and the total number of surname
misspellings or mistranscriptions that some of the names were found
under. With the exception of the very early census records for the US
and Canada I have not included the surname misspellings. If you would
like more information for a particular individual(s) please contact me
directly.
U.K. CENSUS RECORDS FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
In the United Kingdom the first four censuses (1801
to 1831) were strictly statistical. They were head counts that provided
useful information to the government on population sizes, placement, and
occupations of people. They did not record names and/or family units and
are therefore of little use to the family historian. Few of these early
records have survived, however there are fragments of some pre 1841 census
and population records that may be of use. See Colin Chapman’s book
‘Pre-1841 Censuses & Population Listings in the British Isles’,
published in 1996 by Genealogical Publishing Co. In addition some local
lists were kept and can occasionally be found in amongst local parish
records.
(Click to go to larger image)
The following information is included for those
with an interest in the dates on which the censuses occurred and the population
of England and Wales during those census periods: UK CENSUS DATES ENGLAND & WALES POPULATION
FIGURES In any given year if you divide the number of Treverton’s
by the total population of the country the resulting percentage suggests
that your odds of bumping into a relative outside of your own community
was very remote. (Click
to go to larger image) UNITED STATES CENSUS RECORDS All existing census records for the United States of
America from 1790 to 1930 are currently available for public viewing.
Unfortunately the census records for 1800 were lost, almost the entire
1810 census has vanished and the population schedules for 1890 were destroyed
in a fire in 1921. Several databases are available for online viewing
that contain pockets of surviving information. (Click to go to larger image) This image is of the original 1870 census page
showing the families of Charles Treverton, his brother William Treverton
and their father William TREVERTON - Honesdale Post Office, Berlin Township,
Wayne County, Pennsylvania, USA. CANADA CENSUS RECORDS Census records for Canada are only presently available
for the years 1901 and 1911. Click on the individual census year for a
list of all known TREVERTON’s. home I origin
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people, places & things I goons I links
The 1841 National census was the first in which names, ages and family
units were recorded. The 1841 to 1901 census records all contain important
information on family members, ages, relationships, occupations, locations,
etc. This data is now available on the internet - some census years are
free but most can only be viewed in detail on a pay per view basis. See
my ‘Links’ page to find out where. Census returns in the United
Kingdom are closed for a period of 100 years therefore; the next viewable
census will be for 1911. It should be made available for public viewing
in 2012.
Click on the individual census year for a list of all known TREVERTON’s.
1841 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 147
1851 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 147
1861 Census for
England and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 182
1871 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 177
1881 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 174
1891 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 154
1901 Census for England
and Wales - TREVERTON’s: 146
This map shows the number and location of all TREVERTON’s recorded
in the 1881 Census for England and Wales, in keeping with the surname
index on FamilySearch.org. It does not include those surnames that were
misspelled or mistranscribed (24).
Click on the individual census year for a list of all known TREVERTON’s.
1790 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 0
1800 Census for the USA - TREVERTON’s: 0
1810 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 9
1820 Census for the USA - TREVERTON’s: 0
1830 Census for the USA - TREVERTON’s: 0
1840 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 6
1850 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 14
1860 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 19
1870 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 19
1880 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 39
1890 Census for the USA - destroyed by fire
1900 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 53
1910 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 55
1920 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 39
1930 Census for the
USA - TREVERTON’s: 32 
1901 Census for Canada - TREVERTON’s: 1
1911 Census for Canada - TREVERTON’s: 11
©2006 Larry Treverton
