The 1891 and 1901 censuses for England, Wales and Scotland are now linked to historical and modern georeferenced maps by TheGenealogist to make it easier than ever to find where ancestors lived and see the surrounding neighbourhood.

Family and house historians are able to investigate the streets, lanes and wider areas of where their ancestors lived at the time of the 1891 and 1901 census in this latest release from TheGenealogist – this release sees both censuses linked up to the site’s groundbreaking Map Explorer for the first time.

The new data joins the 1911 census and the 1939 Register records that are already connected to Map Explorer. This means that researchers are able to identify, with just the click of a button, where their forebears lived and to see the routes their ancestors used to visit shops, local pubs, churches, places of work and parks.

With a historical map it is possible to find where the nearest railway station was, important for understanding how our ancestors could travel to other parts of the country to see relatives or visit their hometown.

With this release, Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist can pinpoint ancestors’ properties at the time of the census and so investigate the neighbourhood from behind their computer screen. Alternatively, users may also access TheGenealogist on their mobile phone to trace their ancestors’ footprints while walking down modern streets.

Most of the London area and other towns and cities can be viewed down to the property level, while other parts of the country will identify down to the parish, road or street.

Viewing a household record from the 1891 or 1901 census on TheGenealogist will now show a map, locating your ancestor’s house. Clicking on this map loads the location in Map Explorer, enabling you to explore the area and see the records of neighbouring properties.

The newly linked 1901 census also complements the rich georeferenced Lloyd George Domesday Survey records that are already available on TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer – and of course researchers can also push back further in time by using the site’s tith maps for England and Wales.

For more information and case studies, see TheGenealogist’s articles From Census to Map in 1891 and Mapping Charlie Chaplin’s Clogging Roots – you can also learn more about Map Explorer  here