New South Wales 1891 & 1901 Census Collectors’ notebooks

General Introduction

The following information has been taken from the State Records website.

Unfortunately, the only records created under the Census that have survived are the Collectors’ Books for household returns. The Collectors’ Books are arranged alphabetically by census district. Each subdistrict is allocated a number or letter and is arranged chronologically within the census district. Many of the subdistricts include a map and a brief description of the area boundaries; all identify the collector responsible for the area.

Within the subdistrict, the Collectors’ Books record the locality (including names of the street, road, gully or other variations), occasionally the number of the house, the name of the householder and the total number of persons in the household (divided into male and female). The books also list separately how many of the residents are Chinese or Aboriginal. Additional information may include the type of dwelling.

The 1891 Census was the first census to survive in substance after the 1841 Census. Records of the intervening censuses are believed to have been destroyed in the Garden Palace fire on 22 September 1882. The 1891 Census was taken on the 5 April 1891. The final census in the custody of State Records is the 1901 Census taken on 31 March of that year.

The only names in this index are the names of the head of each household. The microfilmed records include the following information on householders:

• locality (name of street, road, gully etc. in town, the number of the house)
• name of householder
• number of householder’s schedule
• total number of persons in each schedule (male and female)
• number of Chinese or Aboriginal people included (male and female)
• and remarks.

HEATGG volunteers have extracted the majority (but not all) of districts pertinent to the Hill End and surrounding areas and volunteer, Sharon Hoyer, has transcribed the basic information from the sub-districts.

In each Census there is a list of approximate districts covered by these Census returns. These transcriptions have then been combined and sorted into 2 alphabetical indexes, by householder name and by location. As with all handwritten documents the writing can be sometimes hard to decipher. If you feel that an error has been made, then please alert us and we will adjust the records appropriately.