How To Narrow Your Search When Using The Census

How do I narrow my search?

When you start searching a census return and you've got a fairly common ancestral name, John Smith, for example, you are going to get thousands upon thousands of results. You need to start focusing on some key things. Firstly, age. Secondly, other biographical information about that individual. Were they married? Did they have children? Thirdly, where were they living? That will help to cut out quite a lot of these other entries. Fourthly, from a certificate, perhaps, you may have worked out what their occupation might have been. Occupation does change quite a lot, but these four key things will allow you to hone in and perhaps get your sample down to two or three possible examples. That way, you can then start looking at the other sources to work out which is the right one.