With the 2021 census for England and Wales just around the corner (it takes place on Sunday 21 March), Bob and Pat Chown of the Woodchurch Ancestry Group came across a surprising discovery in the earlier censuses dating back to 1811.
While researching the Fullagars of Kent family tree, Bob and Pat found an image in the 1911 census showing Mary Ann Fullagar aged 100 and living in Hastings. They traced Mary back to her birth on 29 January 1811. That was just before the 1811 census which, unlike more recent censuses, included no names, just a simple headcount. Responsibility for the 1811 census in Woodchurch fell to two local men: John Coomber and John Hukins, who were paid 10s. 0d. and 3s. 0d. respectively for “taken the account of the number of inhabitants” – a total of 870 men women and children.
Mary Ann Fullagar would have been counted in 1811, 1821 and 1831. Bob and Pat found her named in all the other censuses: 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911. She never married. Mary Ann Fullagar died on 11 June 1911. Her appearance in so many censuses is unusual and an extremely rare occurrence.
The Fullagars of Kent family tree is held on Findmypast (subscription required). Bob and Pat are considering renaming it the Fullagars of Kent and Hastings.
