Census Returns since 1841
The national population census has been taken every ten years from 1841 onwards, with the exception of 1941. The full returns, which contain personal data about individuals, are not made available to the public until 100 years after the survey. The census returns for the years 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901are open to the public at the National Archives, Kew: the national census can be searched online and images of required pages downloaded for a fee. It may be worth considering a subscription to e.g. www.ancestry.co.uk to enable you to search and download more freely.
County record offices hold copies of censuses for their own areas, traditionally on microfiche, but returns for whole counties can also be obtained on CD (regularly advertised in family history magazines). Some Betley census returns have been transcribed manually by Stan Brassington and these transcripts are in the library of the Audley and District Family History Society.