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Missing pages of the 1861 Census

So, you can't find your ancestor in the census?

This may be because some pages and even whole enumeration books are missing from the originals in the National Archives. Some were lost or stolen over the decades, and for some areas - particularly in Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire and Camarthenshire - the books were withheld, and only statistical information returned. Missing parts are usually from the start or finish of the books, as they were roughly handled, but other pages - including the ones that covered Buckingham Palace and much of Belgravia - were at some point removed by an unscrupulous souvenir hunter, before the originals were microfilmed.

News from 1837online

There are a number of enumeration books missing, or parts of enumeration books (usually missing start or finish), from the 1861 census. Below is a list of the books affected that we know of, both those missing in their entirety (M) and those which are incomplete (I) in the National Archives.