"Walter" -1871 |
"Halken" - 1881 |
| For general information see
Introduction to Census Returns |
The Exploring Family History Tutorial
The 1871 Census
Midnight Sun/Mon 2/3rd April 1871
& 1881 Census
Midnight Sun/Mon 4/5th April 1881
| We know from the 1901
census (view)
that Florence Maud King was born in
St Luke's, London circa 1867, and
from Gladys's birth certificate (view)
that her maiden name was
King. From her
marriage certificate (view)
we know her father was George William
King.
(This information agreed with the Bible) Task: Find her, as a child with her parents, in the 1871 census and the 1881 census. |
The 1871 census is online and accessible on the Ancestry web site. A search is made using the following terms
| First Name | Florence |
| Last Name | King |
| Birth Year | 1867 |
| County | London |
| Parish | St Luke |
An examination of the list of possibilities led to the following household living at:
3 Sidney Place, Islington, Middlesex
| Geo Wm King | Head | Married | 42 | Wine Cooper |
Southwark, London |
| Eliza King | Wife | Married | 41 |
London |
|
| Geo Wm King | Son | 17 | Groom |
London |
|
| Wm Hy King | Son | 14 | Cellar Boy |
London |
|
| Eliza M King | Daughter | 13 | Servant |
London |
|
| Alice S King | Daughter | 7 |
London |
||
| Walter F King | Son | 5 |
London |
||
| Florence M King | Daughter | 4 |
London |
||
| Clara Evelina King | Daughter | 2 |
London |
Note that Florence has an older sister, Eliza, who was born 9 years earlier. This matches with the sister-in-law with the hard to read surname in the 1901 census (view). The mystery name must be King, with the "i" left out and the top of the "g" left open.
A similar search of the 1881 census using familysearch produced the following household:
9 Sidney Place, London
| Name | Status | Sex | Age | Birthplace | Occupation | |
| Eliza KING | Head | Widow | Female | 51 | Smithfield, Mddx | |
| Eliza M KING | Daur | Female | 23 | Smithfield, Mddx | Lady Help | |
| Alice KING | Daur | Female | 18 | St Georges, Middx | Lady Help | |
| Halken KING | Son | Male | 15 | Surrey | Warehouse Man | |
| Florence KING | Daur | Female | 14 | St Lukes, Middx | Jewellery Polisher | |
| Archie KING | Son | Male | 8 | Islington, Middx | ||
| William KING | Lodger | Married | Male | 24 | Smithfield, Middx | Warehouseman |
| Emma KING | Wife | Married | Female | 24 | Islington, Middx | |
| George KING | Son | Male | 3 | Islington, Middx |
There are two general points to note.
The first relate to the problem with "London" which is illustrated by the differences in the places of birth given in the two censuses. The official situation was that the "City of London" was surrounded by parishes in Middlesex. However, in common parlance the term "London" included the urban parishes lying north of the Thames, and later some south of the Thames as well. You must always be aware that if a document refers simply to London it could refer to the City of London, or places in Middlesex or Surrey.
The second relates to transcription errors when the census was drawn up. It seems likely that the "Walter" in the 1871 census is the same as the "Halken" of the 1881 census. The relevant images are:
|
"Walter" -1871 |
"Halken" - 1881 |
Both names have the same general shape and were copied from the individual household forms (which were not kept) into the enumeration books at the time the census was taken. It could well be that one of the enumerators had difficulty in reading the household form and made a mistake in copying. One needs to check other records to see which is correct - although Walter seems more likely.
| Result of
Investigation
Florence King has been traced back to her parent's household in Islington in 1871, with information about a number of siblings as well. The problem over the name of the sister-in-law, Eliza King, has been solved. Her father, George William King, died between 1871 and 1881. He therefore cannot be the G. W. King who witnessed Florence's wedding in 1889 (view). It should be possible to explore the family further, using the online census returns, helped with birth, marriage and death certificates, but this tutorial will return to the Horwood line and their Hertfordshire ancestors. While many transcription errors occur in indexing the census, one must also remember that errors could have been made when the enumeration books were being made up. [None of the information on this page is in the bible.] |
April 2006
Mary Henson (mm.henson
@t tiscali.co.uk) wrote: Was amazed on finding your tutorial pages
that my KING family are featured. I
spent years trying to find out more about Halken King
and eventually realising his name was mistranscribed. Have not been able
to get back any further than 1829 with this line. But very pleased they
feature in your tutorial.
Page updated April 2006