Advice from the National Archives (UK) on those census-shy relatives

I saw this National Archives blog post today about ancestors missing from the census and it really has given me thought and bit of chuckle.

I searched high and low for the William Huxtable Ball family in the 1871 Wales Census and even went back to the England Census, thinking that they may have returned to Devon. It wasn't until I read the source notes to the census file in Ancestry that I learned that some of the 1871 census returns for Glamorgan were missing. It means that I'll need to follow up to check their residency in some other record - like a directory, church register or tax record.

William and the 1871 Wales Census

Well, I suppose that you would think finding William Huxtable Ball and his family would not be too hard. They emigrated to Wales sometime around 1858-1861 and seemed to have stayed put through the following decade...or so I thought.

I searched high and low for the family in the 1871 census, but kept coming up with dead ends. Looked for everyone in the family, looked for them in Devon, looked or them in neighbouring counties, checked the census on Find My Past - still nothing.Only when I read the source description in Ancestry, which detailed how parts of the 1871 for the county of Glamorgan had been lost, then I realized that my searching was in vain. It pays to read the fine print...and likely will save your eyesight and sanity in the long run.

In any case, my best guess would be that the family remained in Scurlage Castle, Glamorgan, as we shall see next...

Cheers, K.