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Census means 'count'.
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem because his parents had to travel there for the census, ordered by the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus.
- The first modern census was in 1801, when ten million people were counted.
- The census is taken every ten years. The 2001 census counted nearly sixty million people.
Why do you think the census is needed? - The 1801 census was held because the Government were worried that there might not be enough food for the population.
- Today, the census helps the Government to plan public services such as healthcare and education, and care for the elderly. The Government also has to plan for future housing needs.
Look at 1841 census records. What information did Queen Victoria 's government want from the census? Even Queen Victoria had to fill in a census form. Go to the Census Hall of Fame. Click the celebrity to see their census details. Was everyone happy about the 1841 census? What do these cartoons show? Discuss with your group: How is a Victorian census like a database on the computer? What is different? - A computer database is also made up of records. Each record has the same fields. These are based on the questions asked to get the data, such as, "What is your surname?" "How old are you?" "What job do you do?"
- In Victorian times, the data had to be counted by hand. Today, we can ask the computer to search and sort the data to answer our questions. We can also choose a field and ask the computer to count each category, then show as a graph.
If you have time: What can we find out from old census data? Hover over the map of Chelsea until an area pops up. Click an area. Hover over the street map until the red square turns blue. You will have to scroll horizontally to see some of the fields. Look below the census record for the scroll bar. Can we look at 2001 census records? No. The data is private and you will not be able to see the records until 2101. But you can see a copy of the census form. In 2001, people were asked many more questions than in 1841! | 
