About the index
The 'Act for ascertaining the Number of the Inhabitants of the Colony of New South Wales in the Year One thousand eight hundred and forty-one' (4 Victoria No. 26) required every householder, employer of servants and proprietor and occupier of land to complete the census schedule on the second day ('or on the days immediately subsequent thereto') of March 1841. The 1841 census records the population by police districts, counties and towns. The tabulation of results was more scientific. Age groups were adopted, note made of conjugal condition (married or unmarried) as well as civil condition - noting the number of bond (convict) or free males and females in the household and showing whether they were born in the colony, arrived free, held a ticket of leave, were in government employment or private assignment) - and religious denomination.
- Some records are very difficult to decipher. Names followed by a (?) indicate an illegible entry or one in which the name could not be read clearly enough to make a positive identification.
- For a number of places such as the Lachlan and Liverpool districts there are only statistical returns - no individual names are listed.
Examples of the records
