Census and Vital Records

This is my handout from the lesson I taught last Thursday.

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Census - An Indispensable Resource for Family History

Censuses have been around since the earliest recorded history, especially by centralized governments all over the world. For example: The Old Testament book of Numbers gets its name from a census that was made when the pyramids were new ...
In the New Testament, the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem was for a Roman census related to taxation ...
Whenever governments wanted to know who is available to form an army or to pay taxes, it was time for another census ...
In more modern times, most of the Western world has a national census every 10 years. This allows you to follow a family backwards in time, giving a rough time-line of moves and births, marriages and deaths.
Here is the family of James Lidgett and Mary Ann Tyson in Lincolnshire, England.

The chart is compiled from census records spanning 41 years. The census gives the birth places and approximate birth years. This makes it relatively easy to find vital records.

Name	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901
James Lidgett born Ludford Parva, Lincoln	1845	1845	1845	1845	1845
Mary A Lidgett born Ludford Magma, Lincoln		1846	1845	1846	1846
Edith Lidgett born Ludford Magma, Lincoln		1869	1869
James LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1872
Sarah J. LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1875
Charles W. LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1876	1875
Mary Ann LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1878	1878
George H. LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1880	1880
Thomas LIDGITT born Ludford, Lincoln			1881	1882
Fred Lidgett born Ludford Magma, Lincoln				1884	1884
Earnest Lidgett born Sixhills, Lincoln				1886	1886
Agnes Lidgett born Sixhills, Lincoln				1888	1888
Auther Lidgett born Benniworth, Lincoln				1890	1891

Vital Records

By "vital records" we mean records of major life events: birth (or christening), marriage, death (or burial). In different time periods, vital records may be kept at the national level (e.g. England and Wales), or at the state/provincial level (e.g. Canada), or at the municipal/county level (e.g. USA), or they may be kept at multiple levels – even in the countries listed above. In addition, vital records may also be kept by non-governmental organizations such as churches. Local newspapers may also record births, marriages and deaths.

Primary or Secondary Sources?
This question becomes important if different sources provide conflicting data. A primary source is a record created at the time of the event, by someone who was present. In a court of law this would be referred to as "eye witness evidence". A secondary source was created at a later time or by someone who wasn't present. In a court of law, this would be referred to as "hearsay evidence" (probably true, but open to challenge).
Your research will have greater credibility if you can support your data with sources. Your sourcing should allow other researchers to know (a) what you found and (b) where you found it. It can also be important to explain the basis of conclusions you have drawn from the evidence. PAF's notes gives plenty of space to do this.