The 1901 UK census was taken on the night of Sunday 31 March 1901. Everyone present in a household at midnight is recorded. If your Tamil ancestor was in Britain at that moment — as a student, seaman, doctor, barrister, mission-linked servant or army pensioner — they are named.
Why the date matters
- The census is a snapshot, not a rolling record. Anyone who arrived on 1 April or left on 30 March is not recorded.
- Ships in a British port on census night were enumerated separately (RG 13 shipping schedules). Tamil lascars often show up there rather than in the household count.
- Institutions — hospitals, colleges, boarding houses, workhouses — enumerated their residents on the same night. Tamil medical students at Guy’s or Edinburgh usually appear on the college roll.
Tamil clusters in 1901
- London East End — Poplar, Shadwell, Limehouse lascar households.
- Cardiff Butetown — Tiger Bay merchant navy community.
- Edinburgh — medical student cohort.
- Cambridge and Oxford colleges — ICS candidates and Middle Temple readers.
- Colonial-family homes in Kensington, Marylebone, Bath, Cheltenham — with Tamil ayahs, cooks, personal servants.
Cross-referencing to the Tamil side
Where to go next
- Full 1901 Census guide for Tamil families.
- 1921 UK Census for Tamil Families — the fuller record two decades later.
- English Last Names in Tamil Families.
