1861 census missing image

[allan1962]

I've searched Family Search, Ancestry & findmypast for the 1861 census for William Thomas born 1832, his wife Jane, & sons Henry, William, & Thomas H without success.
I found this transcript on www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
1861 Census
Piece: RG9/1597 Place: Penzance -Cornwall Enumeration District: 8
Civil Parish: St. Just In Penwith Ecclesiastical Parish: Pendeen
Folio: 32 Page: 16 Schedule: 81
Address: Mount Carmel

Surname First name(s) Rel Status Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
THOMAS William Head M M 29 Tin & Copper Miner Cornwall - St Just
THOMAS Jane Wife M F 31 Cornwall - St Just
THOMAS Henry Son - M 6 Scholar Cornwall - St Just
THOMAS William Son - M 4 Scholar Cornwall - St Just
THOMAS Thomas H Son - M 2 Cornwall - St Just

I also found a transcript on freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kayhin/61597.html

I understand that nationally some 1861 census pages are missing. Perhaps this is one of them & that is why Family Search, Ancestry, & findmypast return nothing at all, not even the transcript.

[allan1962]

Cornwall is not included in www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/census-for-england-wales-and-scotland-missing-pieces

[zibetha]

Hi, Allan,

I tried searching the card catalog on Ancestry for you, and for the 1861 Census, the only Penzance options available are Districts 18, 20, and 23. That is probably why you can't find what you seek.

I did also find District 11 for St Just "out there" in their database.

Zib

[allan1962]

Feb 21, 2017 17:06:13 GMT -5 zibetha said:

Hi, Allan,

I tried searching the card catalog on Ancestry for you, and for the 1861 Census, the only Penzance options available are Districts 18, 20, and 23. That is probably why you can't find what you seek.

I did also find District 11 for St Just "out there" in their database.

Zib

Thank you Zib,
Allan.

[Cornish Terrier]

Allan et al - here is the link to the image on Ancestry:-

interactive.ancestry.com/8767/CONRG9_1596_1601-0227/17878504?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3duki1861%26gss%3dsfs28_ms_db%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dcatherine%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3dreseigh%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d1%26uidh%3dvac&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults

The Thomas family is indexed on Ancestry as STORNEY.

Hint - I found this by searching for the relevant details on the Cornwall Online Census Project which is probably the very best of the Census transcriptions.
Just search 'cornwall online census project' using Google and from the 'hits' select 'Cornwall Online Census Project - Table of Contents'. This will give a list of the Census years from which you select what you want. You can then search on the Folio Numbers etc. as well as normal name searches using the Find facility in your browser.
Once I had found the details on COCP I then selected another surname from the page and searched Ancestry. In this case I selected 'Catherine reseigh' which had been transcribed correctly. At least with a transcript of the full page you can see all names which gives plenty of options to find what you are looking for. (If another complete surname does not work you can then try using parts of the surname with wildcards as well as age, place of birth etc.)

PS - I have also sent a correction to Ancestry to change the surname to THOMAS.

CT

[allan1962]

Once again, thank you so much Cornish Terrier. I have now added the Cornwall Online Census Project to the sources to search for my Cornish ancestors.
Allan.

[Cornish Terrier]

There are certainly 'some' pages/images missing from the Ancestry collection and I think also some complete folios but for the most part the reason things cannot be found is simply due to transcription error.
Transcriptions are available from Findmypast, FamilySearch and Ancestry but in my experience transcriptions of 'anything' from these sources are also prone with errors.
The Cornwall Online Census Project is not completely immune to error but it is by far the most complete and most accurate due to the care and diligence that went into the project. 1841 to 1891 are apparently completed with only a small part of 1901 for which, along with 1911, other sources will be required. The COCP transcript went through cross-checking and there are indications where details were uncertain or unreadable - italicized entries and coloured entries for example are examples of this.

If I have any trouble locating entries I generally try numerous different options such as wildcards or even reducing search terms to the bare minimum. This can sometimes mean searching only on 'birthplace' or 'abode' and 'age' but when all else fails I turn immediately to the COCP. Once I find what I am looking for I use other information on the page to locate the entry in the Ancestry images.

CT