The 1841 Census: Discovering the People of Victorian Swansea
The 1841 Census: Discovering the People of Victorian Swansea Swansea Family History Revised and expanded: November 2026 Introduction: Swansea on Census Night On Sunday, 6 June 1841 , thousands of people throughout Swansea and its surrounding communities were recorded as part of a national census that would become one of the most important sources available to family historians. 1841 Census For the first time, the national census in England and Wales systematically recorded individual names in surviving enumerators' books, allowing future generations to discover where their ancestors lived, their ages, occupations and the people sharing their households. Swansea was undergoing enormous changes. Its copper industry had established the town as one of Britain's most important industrial centres, while coal mining, shipping, agriculture and commerce provided employment for thousands of families. The census recorded people from every part of society, including wealthy merchants, trad...
