Catalogue description Office for National Statistics and Predecessors: Census Returns: Correspondence, Registered Papers and Digital Files

References for born-digital records are automatically generated and display a 'Z' after a forward slash, which distinguish them from traditional references allocated to paper and digitised records.

Some records in this collection have been subject to migration from Lotus Notes into SharePoint 2013, then into SharePoint Online. Some original file names have been lost in this process. Lotus Notes site pages each have a unique reference which consists of 32 alphanumeric components, e.g. 10D8E77C40F8009D80256D0A004A6206. Lotus Notes site pages can be identified as they will include only this alphanumeric reference and a PDF file extension, e.g. 10D8E77C40F8009D80256D0A004A6206.pdf. Lotus Notes site pages usually give the context to a number of associated files that were attached to messages or content in the site/page. Associated file names will include a matching 32 component alphanumeric reference, e.g. redfern_10D8E77C40F8009D80256D0A004A6206.pdf. Site pages are arranged in folders alongside any file attachments that have a matching reference. Further information is included in the description for each file.

Under the 1900 and 1910 Acts the Local Government Board was responsible for superintending the taking of the census and the Registrar General for issuing the forms and instructions and preparing reports and tables from the returns.

Under the 1920 Census Act, the duty for carrying out the Census rested solely with the Registrar General for England and Wales, whose office is now part of the Office for National Statistics (established 1996).

In 1970 the General Register Office (GRO) became part of the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), with the Registrar General in overall charge. Until then it had had several statistical functions, including the conduct of population censuses and the production of annual population estimates; all these were moved elsewhere within the new organisation. The GRO then became a division within OPCS, headed by a Deputy Registrar General. Then in 1996 the OPCS, and therefore the GRO, became part of the newly created Office for National Statistics, and the office of Registrar General was merged with that of Head of the Government Statistical Service.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, population and society of the UK. The ONS files in this series cover the years 1996 onwards.