Bere Regis Village Website

Bere Regis 1861 Census


The 1861 Census for England was taken on the night of 7 April 1861.
The following information was requested:

" Name of road, street, etc
" House number or name
" Whether or not the house was inhabited
" Name of each person that had spent the night in that household
" Relationship of person enumerated to the head of the family
" Person's marital status
" Age at last birthday (sex is indicated by which column the age is recorded in)
" Person's occupation
" Person's place of birth
" Whether blind, deaf, or an idiot.
Enumeration forms were distributed to all households a couple of days before census night and the complete forms were collected the next day.
All responses were to reflect the individual's status as of 7 April 1861 for all individuals who had spent the night in the house.
People who were travelling or living abroad were enumerated at the location where they spent the night on census night.
All of the details from the individual forms were later sorted and copied into enumerators' books, which are the records we can view images of today.
The original householders schedules from 1841 to 1901 were destroyed.

Census records are divided into groups by county, then by parish, and in many cases, such as in Bere Regis, by Enumeration districts as well. An enumeration district was considered to be roughly equivalent to the area that a census worker or "enumerator" could cover in one day.

Our village was split into 2 Enumeration districts.
They are outlined below.

The files are all included in one VERY LARGE PDF file

Enumeration District A

Covers Main Village streets, Boswells Cottage, Court Farm, Mr Scutts House, Butt Lane, Lower Hill, Snow Hill Cottages, Shitterton, Bere Down, Roke Down Cottages, Roke Farm (& Cottages), Broadwater Cottages & Bere Mill

 

Enumerator - Henry Hallett

Enumeration District B

Covers Southbrook Cottages, Rye Hill Farm (& Cottages), Hollow Oak Farm, Doddings Mill Farm (& Cottages), Brick Kiln, Jenkins, Snatford & Bere Heath Cottages, Chamberlains Mill (& Cottages), Stockley Farm, Hyde House Farm (& Cottages), Philiols Farm (& Cottages), Buddens Farm (& Cottage), Hyde Lodge, Woodbury Hill Houses & Bere Wood Keepers Houses.

 

Enumerator - John Hallett