1921 Census and our Family Names

Part of 1921 Census form 

1921 Census

Earlier this month the 1921 census for England and Wales was released. This was a cause of great excitement for genealogists, especially since there will be no more censuses released until 2051 (the 1931 census was destroyed in WW2 and the 1941 census didn’t happen because of WW2). For many the excitement was dampened by the fact that to view each household’s census return would cost £3.50. Luckily you are able to search the 1921 census for free. Your free search reveals the names of individuals, their year and place of birth, and the parish where they are living in 1921. The additional information you would obtain if you paid £3.50 would be the exact age of the individual, the address of the property where they are living, the other people living at the address, the family relationships of all the individuals at a property, plus individuals’ occupations, employer and place of work.

Family Members

I set about researching our family members using the search feature, and searching for Titheridge, Titheradge, Tidridge, Tytheridge, Tutheridge, Teatheredge and Titteridge. I found 459 people who bore the family names. This is about the same number of individuals as on the 1911 census. I was surprised by the large number of transcription errors I found. As well as the 7 standard family surnames, there are some additional 30 spelling variations of our surnames, including misreading the T at the start for an F, L, S or Z. My favourite transcription error was Mabel Titheridge – who was transcribed as Wabel, and I smiled at the mixed gender names of Frederick Olive and Lois Walter!

There were also 20 individuals who might or might not be Titheridge family members but without seeing the original writing it is impossible to be sure. There are some individuals I know are missing from the individuals found so far. 

Different Surnames

The total number of family members found is 459. The breakdown of the occurrence of each surname is:

329 individuals with surname Titheridge (72%)

63 individuals with surname Titheradge (14%)

24 individuals with surname Tidridge (5%)

22 individuals with surname Tytheridge (5%)

12 individuals with surname Tutheridge (3%)

8 individuals with surname Teatheredge (2%) 

1 individual with surname Titteridge (less than 1%)

Distribution of the Family around England and Wales  

Most individuals with the family name lived in Hampshire. Nearly all family members were in counties in the south of England, with only 2% of the individuals living north of London.

The distribution was: 

221 individuals lived in Hampshire (48%)

116 individuals lived in London (25%) 

28 individuals lived in Middlesex (6%)

24 individuals lived in Surrey (5%)

16 individuals lived in Sussex (3%)

11 individuals lived in Essex (2%)

9 individuals lived in Kent (2%)

43 individuals lived in other counties, which each had with less than 6 individuals (9%) 

The Titheridges lived predominantly in Hampshire but there was also a substantial presence in London. The Titheradges were mainly in Hampshire, London and Essex. The Tidridges were mainly in Hampshire, with a small number in Glamorganshire. The Tytheridges and Teatheredges were mainly in London, while the Tutheridges were split between London and Berkshire. 

Distribution by Age and Sex

There were approximately equal numbers of females (228 individuals) and males (231 individuals). 

The age distribution is shown below.

80 individuals aged 0-10 years of age (17%)

78 individuals aged 11-20 years of age (17%)

86 individuals aged 21-30 years of age (19%)

78 individuals aged 31-40 years of age (17%)

53 individuals aged 41-50 years of age (12%)

33 individuals aged 51-60 years of age (7%)

33 individuals aged 61-70 years of age (7%)

13 individuals aged 71-80 years of age (3%)

4 individuals aged 81-90 years of age (1%)

Family Units

The individuals are found on the census living at over 170 different addresses. Most of the family units have less than seven individuals, that is 5 or less children living at home. In general, the large families of 6 -12 children seen in previous censuses have disappeared. There are just three families with 6 or more children at home, they are Edward and Rose Titheradge in Walthamstow with 9 children aged 21 – 0; Philip at Jessie Titheridge in Southampton with 8 children aged 21 – 4 and Benjamin James and Eva Titheridge in Alverstoke with 6 children aged 15 to 0. Many families were living in crowded circumstances with more than one family sharing a house and often families living with parents, in-laws or other family members.

Common Christian Names

The Christian names show that the commonest name was William for males, with 21 individuals called William. Other common names for boys were George, James, Albert, Alfred, John, Herbert, Arthur and Frederick. The commonest name for females was Annie, with 11 individuals called Annie. There was more variation in the women’s names with the other common names for women being Edith, Florence, Mary, Margaret, Dorothy and Ada.  

Find My Past

If you wish to look for your relatives on the 1921 census the link to the search page is https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census

If you find anything interesting in your search do share the information.