Guston CEP School: investigating and comparing 1841 and 1871 census data

 

Guston is a small village near Dover. In the 19th century, the small village school served the local farming community. Today, Guston CE Primary School has close connections with the resident military community. The school recently celebrated its 21st anniversary in its new site, close to Connaught Barracks. Guston parish extends southwards to Dover’s famous East Cliff. Millions of ferry passengers cross the parish each year as they travel through Dover’s Eastern Docks.


This project shows how 19th century census data has been used by pupils to fulfil the Integrated Task requirement of QCA ICT Unit 5B. The work is linked to History Unit 12: Change in our locality in Victorian times.
Map showing Guston to the north of Dover.

 

This project has been compiled by Helen Smith, using Year 6 children’s research and photographs. 1841 and 1871 Census data has been transcribed by Dorothy M Holden and is used with her permission.

 
Old postcard of Guston. The Street, Guston as it is today.

 

Learning objectives:

  • to use complex searches to locate information
  • to use ICT to test a hypothesis

Learning outcomes:

  • to narrow down a complex search
  • to use graphs to provide supporting evidence for conclusions

 

The red circle on this 1961 map shows where the school is today.

1961 map

 

Useful sites

If possible, use data for your own locality - if you are fortunate to have a volunteer to type up hundreds of records! Images of census forms from 1841 to 1901 can be accessed at the National Archives.
Follow the links to ancestry.co.uk - you can scroll down to find census districts by county. There is a charge for downloading the images.

There's a Census Factsheet here.

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