Genealogy Chat

This is my first time on checking a census. I was searching for my Grandma Emma Williams in 1901. The information page gives her age etc and where she was born and then it says "address". Does this mean the address where she was born? Or, does it mean the address where she was living at the time of the census? Also, the top of the page refers to a different name of John Smith. Who is he? I didnt ask for information on a John Smith? Please can somebody help me to understand?

Thank you

The address is whre she is living and it should say what relation she is to the head of the house, and S for Single or M for Married.
Each page give a list of houses and groups of people living there, and yes you will find things you didnt ask for , sometimes useful, or not.

When you say "the information page" have you been looking at the census image? If so, it will give the names of everyone else on the page.

The address will be where she was living at the time. John Smith may have been living next door or in close proximity.

Are you looking at the original image, Hazel? If you are, John Smith is probably another person living on that street. So he will be one of the neighbours that appear when you click to look at Emma Williams' name on the census image.

What happened - I think - was (on census night) every house filled in a little sheet saying who lived in which house, then those were collected up and copied onto a big sheet to cover the whole town/village/area of a city. It is this big sheet - or schedule - that you see when you view the image on Ancestry etc.

The address next to Emma Williams will be where she was living at the time.

I advise always getting your information from the original page. Don't use the transcriptions, they're so full of errors.