Our census form arrived in the post today, all ready to be filled in (on paper or online) on the 27 March. Over the last few months, with my family tree research, I've taken a special interest in the census as I've been heavily reliant on them from 1841 to 1911 to gather information about my family. The 1841 census was really basic, just listing address, names, age, whether the occupants were male or female and their occupation. The census asked whether the person was born in the same county but that was it and it gave no clues as to where the person was actually born.
The 2011 census, though, is huge! It asks lots of questions about occupation, how many hours you work, where you work, how you get to work, religion, ethnicity and what sort of qualifications you have. The content will remain secret for 100 years but it should give our descendants a fascinating insight into our lives and what we did for a living, in the future. I'm sure there will be people who resent having to write down such information and I'm sure a few will suspect that the contents will somehow be used in ways that are not to the public good, but by law we will all have to complete the census or face a fine. I'm in two minds, to be honest. I'm not sure that I like giving such personal details out and do worry that the information can be used to spy on us, but having made such use of the censuses in the past, and not wanting to fall foul of the law, I'll be doing my duty and filling it all in on the 27th!
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