Canal Census Data

I find census data very interesting and surprisingly exciting! With data from different years you can follow the lives of people from cradle to old age, from school to work to the poor house.

When it comes to canals it is not just the boats that are listed with their crews. There are many canal-side boarding houses which were home to boatmen. There are some unfortunate souls found in prisons or poorhouses who list their occupation as bargeman or canal worker. The clerks and lock keepers are listed too.

It is possible to see something of the social history of canals from the census data. Boatmen and women had a reputation for living together out of wedlock and this is seen on the census. But more often you see either boating families or a captain and his crew.