Contrary to what may be thought, census returns were not collected, collated and compiled by any government offical..
"Enumeration
forms were distributed to all households a few days before the census night
and the household members were required to complete the forms themselves.
The next day, the enumerators collected the completed forms. All of the
details from the individual forms were later sorted and copied into enumerators
books.
If the head of the household was illiterate, or had trouble completing the
enumeration form, the enumerator (census taker) would complete as much information
as possible on behalf of the householder.
The original census schedules that were completed by household members were
destroyed. However, the enumerators’ books were kept and in 1970 the
records were microfilmed."
[Taken from the descriptions on the census reports provided by ancestry.co.uk]
The enumerators were local inviduals paid to distribute,
collect and collate the householders' forms. Abbots Bromley District 2 in the 1871 census the enumerator was John Tompson, which if nothing else
gives us the unique opportuinity to see an ancestor's handwriting. The level of literacy displayed by John isn't to be taken as standard amongst
enumerators over years. Searching for records is frequently handicapped by misspelt names and incorrect information, the latter predominantly in the
transcription performed by Ancestry's "wonderful" A.I.
Between 1841 and 1921 the "census date" for England were as follows;