Enfield – a Borough of Fame claims earlier Census counts

Some names which have been revealed are:
1841 - Mary Lamb: sister of essayist Charles Lamb
1871 - Jerome K Jerome: Novelist and author of Three Men in a Boat
1891 - William Booth: founder of the Salvation Army
1891 - Joseph Whitaker: publisher and editor, and first editor of Whitaker's Almanac
1901 - William Henry Pratt: (Actor Boris Karloff)
1901 - Florence Dugdale: Future wife of Thomas Hardy
1911 - Gladys Aylward: Missionary

The records offer a fascinating insight into life in Enfield throughout history, as some of those featured lived almost alone, and others resided in huge households with many servants.

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army lived with only his shorthand writer and one servant for company in Beech Hill Estate Enfield, whereas Joseph Whitaker, writer of Whitaker's Almanac lived in Silver Street in a house (which still stands) with six children and five servants.

Famous artists also lived in the borough, like Jerome K Jerome (in Springfield Villas Edmonton) and Boris Karloff (registered under his real name of William Henry Pratt) and who lived in Ridgeway Uplands Park can be seen.

Cllr Achilleas Georgiou, Census Champion said "It is very interesting as we are asking our current residents to fill out their census forms to look back in history to see some of the fascinating people who have completed census forms in Enfield in the past.

"Some other famous names we have found have been Florence Dugdale, who we have named our current Dugdale Centre after, and Gladys Aylward, who was only 9 when the census of 1911 was completed.

"I would urge all our current residents to complete their census forms as soon as possible after 27th March, either by paper or online, so their details are recorded for posterity".