14 Apr 08

A Victorian family filling in the census form. Credit: Mary Evans Picture Library.

Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education is launching a new short online course to help non-specialists to use the records of the Victorian census for their own research in local, social and family history.

For the duration of the part-time course students will have free access to all the census images and indexes available online via Ancestry UK. By carrying out exercises on two very different English villages as examples, and through reading, discussion and guidance from an expert tutor, students will develop a better understanding of the census, its value and its limitations, and what it can tell us about our Victorian ancestors.

The census returns for England and Wales dating from 1841 to 1901 are one of our most valuable sources for studying society, families and local communities in the 19th century, and their availability online now brings them within reach of anyone with access to the Internet. This short online practical course will introduce the census and show how it can be used. It starts 21 May 2008.