October 2016 - My Family History

Spanish Censuses

Genealogists searching ancestors in Spain have in the various Spanish census records a very rich source of information as many censuses have been carried in the Spanish territory since early times.

Outline on Spanish censuses of genealogical value.

Even if at the very beginning the purpose of the censuses were not to count people but to determine whose persons could be charged with taxes, Spanish censuses are a goldmine for genealogical information.

For practical purposes, Spanish censuses can be divided into 2 stages: censuses carried between the early 16^th. century and up to the first half of the 18^th. century, and censuses carried from the second half of the 18^th. century on.

Censuses belonging to the first stage, have very particular characteristics:

-as mentioned earlier, were carried not to learn about the population in general, but to know which people was able to pay taxes

-therefore, such censuses were not addressed to the population in general but just to those people called in Spanish “vecinos pecheros” that were specifically people from which taxes could be collected

-the information was not collected directly from the censed people but from the local authorities who were in charge of giving information about the neighbors.

-the most famous one was carried in 1753 and is known as “Cadaster from Marquis de Ensenada”. FamilySearch is at present joining efforts with Spanish authorities so as to turn into digital images the microfilms of this census. Some of these images are already available on line at FamilySearch site.

See: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Spain,_Catastro_de_Ensenada_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

Censuses carried from the second half of the 18^th. century on, were addressed to all the population. The unit of interest is therefore the person, and questions are addressed to the people directly. Some of these censuses are available on line through FamilySearch and other public and private databases.

Spanish censuses from the first half of the 19th century.

The war of independence (1808-1812) stopped the census activity. However we should mention the existence of counts of the population from not so reliable sources, known as police census. For example, in 1826 police gave an account of population by province according to which Spain had about 13 million inhabitants (excluding the Canary Islands).

From the second half of the 19th century begins a period of systematization and improvement in the technique of data collection. Institutional censuses started with the creation of the Board of Statistics in 1856. The Geographical Institute, was created in 1870 and 1873 assumed the tasks of the Board of Statistics being therefore renamed as Geographic and Statistical Institute.

From the censuses carried during the second half of the 19^th century it is important to mention the 1860 census, as in this occasion noteworthy are the preliminary work to get the census frame (the list of all homes that had to be visited) to be the most up-to-date possible, so the list of populations was updated, municipal boundaries were asserted, and streets were labelled and numbered. This time all the population was measured, (which means that it was necessary to include sailors onboard, troops destined overseas etc.).

Is it hard to check Spanish census records?

In fact, and even if there is a lot of material, the answer to this question is yes. And the reason is that so far only a small amount of records have been digitized and are available online. Digitalizing census records is a slow, complex, and expensive process, but it is essential to improve the conservation, management and dissemination of documents.

Another problem is that most census records are not national but municipal, and therefore, are not grouped in a single database.

What is the solution and why?

Happily, digitized records are growing at an ever increasing rate, and thus, what is not available right now might become available on line in a few monthes. LDS is one of the institutions carrying out these digitalizations.

In what has to do with the colonial period in the Americas, Spanish archives are also rich in material. These collections include censuses taken at the Spanish colonies. As this treasure has been mined for decades, excellent guides, indexes, and inventories have already been prepared. Description of these archives and their collections, including virtual visits, can be found at http://www.cultura.mecd.es/archivos/ while computerized access to these collections is available at http://www.aer.es. The Archivo General de Indias, located in Seville, followed by the Archivo General de Simancas, located in Valladolid, and the Archivo General de Segovia, located in Segovia, are the most important, both in quality and quantity of their collections relating to the Spanish colonial period, but literally hundreds of other libraries and archives in Spain have collections with materials relating to the Americas.

Image of the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain. Photo courtesy of: http://www.abc.es/cultura/20130309/abci-archivos-201303082044.html This is the only archive so far declared World Heritage by the UNESCO.

Sources:

http://www.ine.es/explica/explica_historia_censos.htm

http://pares.mcu.es/Catastro/

https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Spain,_Catastro_de_Ensenada_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

https://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Locating_Colonial_Records_of_Genealogical_Value

By, Carmen Vazquez Sibils

Canadian Census

Genealogists with Canadian ancestors are lucky enough to have a lot of censuses covering a wide range of time that are available online, to search ancestors.

Besides vital records, census records are a smart way to approach ancestors as they are a gold mine for information that is not easy to get from other sources. For example, the 1921 Census asked 35 different questions about each individual like: can read and write? months at school since September 1, 1920; employer, employee, worker, or working on own account?; total earnings in past 12 months, etc.

In Canada, historical censuses (1666-1911) have been indexed, microfilmed, and digitalized. Indexes and links to them are listed at the Library and Archives Canada web site. Http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/

These censuses are also available at:

An index can also be found on Automated Genealogy website (http://automatedgenealogy.com/) where you can browse the indexed surnames in each district and sub-district. [i]

1921 Census is now available at ca on a free basis (just a free subscription is required to check it; prior censuses can also be checked up on Ancestry.ca upon payment of a fee).

Census returns after 1921 are in the custody of Statistics Canada. In Canada, law does not permit the disclosure of personal information from post-1921 census The only exception is for people who require information about themselves. Third parties cannot obtain information about another individual without the individual’s written consent.

Some returns prior to 1851 are partly nominal but most returns from 1851 to 1921 are of great value to genealogists as they enumerate each person individually, with details as to age, gender, country or province of birth, religion, racial or ethnic origin, occupation, marital status and education. In some years, censuses also indicate year of immigration.

Some other facts about Canadian Censuses of genealogical value:

The first census in what is now Canada took place in New France in 1666. Returns noted the age, sex, marital status and occupation of 3,215 inhabitants.

Prior to the 1871 Census, census enumerations were conducted in different areas in various years. As provinces joined Confederation, they were included in subsequent federal census returns.

The first national census of the country Canada was taken in 1871. All inhabitants of Canada were censed including aboriginals. While this was the first national census of Canada, only four provinces existed at the time: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Other areas of what later became part of Canada continued to be enumerated in their own separate censuses.

As in the United States, the original purpose of the censuses was to help determine parliamentary representation based on population[ii].However, as time went by, censuses became more complex. For the 1911 Census data was collected using 13 schedules, which included a total of 549 questions. Only Schedule 1 (Population) has been preserved. For the 1916 Census data was collected using just three schedules, but again, just Schedule 1 (Population) was preserved.

The 1921 Census is the most recent census available to the public. The records cover Canada’s peak immigration period, the rise of aboriginal and women’s rights and the formation of this country’s modern identity.

Candian Census - Giuseppe Camozzi Canadian Census 1921

Example of the 1921 Canadian Census

Image of 1921 census record, courtesy of http://www.ancestry.ca

Is there anything in particular I should take in account when searching ancestors at Canadian censuses?

Indeed, yes. There are a few things to bear in mind when checking up Canadian censuses:

The Dominion Bureau of Statistics was authorized by the Public Records Committee to microfilm and destroy the original paper records from historical censuses. As a result, only a microfilm copy of these censuses exists as an archival holding. The microfilming of these records was not of consistent quality and not all images are readable. As these census records were digitized by scanning the microfilms, a page that was unreadable on microfilm is also unreadable on the online version. Besides this, there are many indexing errors and omissions in databases because of poor handwriting in the original documents.

Spelling variations of names are common in old records. Also, many names were written phonetically, as they sounded to the person recording them. Also, when in Canada, some immigrants anglicized their names. Boisvert for example, may have evolved into Greenwood. Johan Kuch might have started calling himself John Cook. So, when searching ancestors, try different variations of your ancestor´s name.

Last but not least: search your ancestors in every census in which they could appear: as mentioned in our previous blogs about other countries´ censuses, you could learn something new from each census.

By, Carmen Vazquez Sibils