1951 and 1961 Census data for Corby Urban District

FOI reference: FOI-2025-3188

You asked

I am making this request to gain access to the statistical data collected in both the 1951 and 1961 Censuses from what was then the Corby Urban District.

We said

Thank you for your freedom of information request. 

Over each ten-year period between Censuses, society undergoes significant change, especially in the last 50 years, driven by rapid technological advancements. The questions asked in each census evolve to reflect the shifting needs and priorities of the population. Likewise, the outputs and formats in which Census data are delivered have transformed, becoming more sophisticated and accessible. Each decade has also seen a notable increase in the level of detail available, enhancing the value and usability of the data.

1951 data

The 1951 Census produced fewer outputs and offered significantly less detail compared to later years.

1951 Census raw data products have recently been added to Nomis in CSV format, designed to be automatically loaded into systems that allow users to interrogate and manipulate the data. Nomis is a service run on behalf of the ONS by the University of Durham.

Further 1951 Census data is accessible in the form of physical reports. All Census reports have been scanned and copies of individual pages can be obtained from census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk. The below documents that are in scope of your request, or that may be of interest, have been provided by census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk. These can be found in the associated downloads. In case of interest, The British Library holds a full set.

• A page from the 1951 County Report for Northamptonshire 

• Table 3 – Acreage, Population, Private Families and Dwellings – page 3 

(Source: 1951 Census County Reports – Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough) 

• Table 19 – Birthplace and Nationalities of the whole population (only available at County level) – pages 56-57 (Source: 1951 Census County Reports – Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough)

These datasets contain a complete set of data and geographies, not all of which will be published in the Nomis datasets. For example, additional data was sometimes given in the printed reports for certain geographical areas. It is important to note that some of this additional data has not been subject to the same quality assurance process as the Nomis datasets, the information is therefore presented as printed at the time.

1961 data

Scanned copies of 1961 Census data physical reports have also been provided in the associated downloads:

• Table 3 – Acreage, Population, Private Families and Dwellings – page 2 

• Table 8 – Birthplace and Nationalities of the whole population – page 18 

• Table 9 – Residents born outside England and Wales, by Nationality and Citizenship, and Visitors from outside England and Wales – page 19 

(Source: 1961 Census County Reports – Northamptonshire) 

Additionally, a new set of figures, known as "Small Area Statistics (SAS)" were created following the 1961 Census. Coverage is, however, incomplete as they were created on a commission basis and not every County commissioned the tables to be run. These are available as part of our program of statistical archaeology projects to make more historical census outputs available in digital form on the NOMIS webservice. The associated download includes dataset SH13 - Age and marital condition by five year age groups for Corby UD, downloaded from Nomis.

If you have any further questions about the data, please contact census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk.