
The first UK census was taken in 1801 and has been repeated every 10 years since, excepting for 1941. The first four (1801 to 1831) were basically head counts only and, whilst forming useful information about the placement and occupations of people, are of little use to genealogists. The 1841 census was the first to record names nationally.
The census has always been recorded at the point of midnight Sunday/Monday. There is a 100 year rule in the UK on specific census information disclosure so, for instance, the 1911 Census information will not be available until January 2nd 2112.
| 1841* | 6/7th June | Available from some Family History Societies |
| 1851 | 30/31st March | Subscription on Genealogy.com |
| 1861 | 7/8th April | Available from some Family History Societies |
| 1871 | 2/3rd April | Available from some Family History Societies |
| 1881 | 3/4th April | Free access on Familysearch.org |
| 1891 | 5/6th April | Subscription on Ancestry.com |
| 1901 | 31st March/1st April | PRO website. Free search, pay-per-record view. |
| 1911 | 2/3rd April | |
| 1921 | 19/20th June | |
| 1931 | 26/27th April (Destroyed in WW2). | |
| 1941 | No census taken (Due to WW2). |
* The Whitstable returns are missing at the PRO.
The average population split is male/female 48.5%/51.5% although in times of war as expected the shift to female is greater.
| Year | England & Wales | Whitstable inc. Seasalter |
| 1811 | 10,164,256 | |
| 1821 | 12,000,236 | 2,265 |
| 1831 | 13,896,797 | 2,871 |
| 1841 | 15,914,148 | 3,319 |
| 1851 | 17,927,609 | |
| 1861 | 20,066,224 | |
| 1871 | 22,712,266 | |
| 1881 | 25,974,439 | 6,000 |
| 1891 | 29,002,525 | |
| 1901 | 32,527,843 | |
| 1911 | 36,070,492 | |
| 1921 | 37,886,699 | |
| 1931 | 39,952,377 |
Once we obtain the all of the information for the local population at these points we will graph it against the national population which should show the varience in the growth, decline and then new growth of the town against the national average.