The accuracy and precision of birthplace reporting in the 1851–1911 censuses: Place as a component of identity in nineteenth‐century England and Wales

Abstract

AbstractIf migration between 1851 and 1911 is to be analysed using individual‐level census data, it must be proven that individuals' place of birth was reliably recorded. However, existing studies have primarily been concerned with establishing only the level of absolute error, rather than how such errors were introduced. Through assessing the determinants of inaccuracy in the 1851–1911 censuses, this article finds that while birthplaces were generally reported accurately, the errors which did exist were not only the fault of the individual in question, but also of the householder whose responsibility it was to fill in the census form, and of those charged with transcribing the original, handwritten schedules into a machine‐readable format. By demonstrating that individuals' ability to identify their place of birth was a function of their age and the distance they migrated from their place of birth, rather than either their intelligence or familiarity with their place of birth per se, shows that individuals' ability to identify their birthplace accurately was a function of the relevance it held in their lives. Consequently, this article argues that individuals' ability to identify their place of birth reflected its role as a component of their identity, becoming less relevant the further from it they became, but increasingly relevant as they aged.