After Dracula: Bram Stoker and family in the 1901 English census

In 1881 and 1891, Bran Stoker, the author of Dracula, lived with his small family in Chelsea, a fashionable neighborhood of London then and now. Last seen in 1891 at 17 St Leonards Terrace, I mentioned in my post about that address that it was the property next door, No. 18 St Leonards Terrace, that has the blue plaque honoring Stoker. In the Google Street View picture, you can see the blue plaque.

Here's the picture again. No. 18 is the white house on the end.


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Dracula was published in 1897. It wasn't Stoker's first literary work. In the 1891 census, he listed himself as having three occupations: Theatrical Manager, Barrister, and Author.

Let's look at the 1901 census.

Address: 18 St Leonards Terrace, Chelsea

Name: Bram Stoker
Age: 53
Estimated birth year: about 1848
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Florence A L Stoker
Gender: Male
Where born: Ireland
Civil Parish: Chelsea
Ecclesiastical parish: St Luke
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address: 18 St Leonards Terrace, Chelsea, London
Occupation: Barrister
Condition as to marriage: Married
Employment status: Worker


Registration district: Chelsea
Sub-registration district: Chelsea, South
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Household schedule number: 382
Household Members:
Name Age
Bram Stoker 53
Florence A L Stoker 39, Wife. Occupation is blank. Born Falmouth, Cornwall.
Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. Son, Single, 21. Accountant's Apprentice. Born Chelsea, London.
Maria Mitchell. Servant, Single, 63. Housekeeper (Domestic). Born Dorking, Surrey.
Louisa Driver. Servant, Single, 37. Parlourmaid. Born London.



Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 77; Folio: 68; Page: 47.
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives, 1901.

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The move into No. 18 St Leonards Terrace took place sometime during the past 10 years.

Bram is now listed as a Barrister, with no mention of his former occupations of Theatrical Manager and Author. Was he still doing both of these things? Other records would indicate, yes. In fact, his work as a Barrister appears to have been secondary throughout his life. Biographies stress his work in the theatre, not in the courts of law.

The Stokers' son, Irving Noel Thornley Stoker, is again with the family. (He was absent in 1891). He's training to become an accountant.

Two servants, Maria Mitchell and Louisa Driver, have replaced the two we saw in 1891. We don't know how many there may have been in between.

A big question now is, what impact did the publication of Dracula have on Stoker during his lifetime? Was it the proceeds from the sale of this book that financed the move to this new house? Somehow I suspect not, but that is only from seeing a passing note saying the book was not an immediate success. It will take a little more research to be sure of that.

I should perhaps repeat that I am working from the primary sources here. There is plenty of information available about Stoker online and in print. Eventually I may turn to it to fill in some gaps. My objective is not to write any kind of biography, but to look at the primary sources I have readily available, and see what they say.

This article is one in an ongoing series, starting with Bram Stoker, author of Dracula in public records: BMD (Birth, Marriage, Death).

Next: Harriet Daw, Bram Stoker's Cook in 1881. The problem of a small spelling error.

1911 England census

Today I'm going to leave the VERNELLs and SANDERS briefly and sniff around in the 1911 census for various families. Some are in my family, some aren't. I'm interested in them all, but the reasons vary.

Finding the 1911 UK census online

The website I'm using is 1911census.co.uk.

You can search for free, but to see the results you need to pay.

Another site I haven't tried yet is offering subscriptions to the 1911 census, in fact, they have every census from 1841 to 1911. It's findmypast.co.uk.

I've already purchased some credits and done a few searches in the 1911census.co.uk site and it worked very well.

A 1911 census search for Mary BUNTING nee KNOWLES formerly CORKER formerly BROWN formerly ROYLE

Yes, married four times and apparently outlived them all! This lady's name was Mary Ann KNOWLES until the first marriage, as indicated by the word "nee" (French for "born"). She married men whose surnames were, in order, CORKER, BROWN, ROYLE, and BUNTING. It's been quite the wild goose chase trying to track her down, because I had no idea she had any husbands after BROWN.

Without too much trouble, using her name and a birth date with not "Exact" but plus or minus 5 years for the date, there she is, in Salford.

Finding the address in the 1911 census

It's really easy to use the 1911 census site to get both the census form for the household and the cover page showing the address. There are clear boxes to check.

Although it's a little cheaper to see a transcript, I always go look at the original. Too many mistakes crop up in transcribing records. I want to see them for myself.

The cost: transcripts are 10 credits each, originals are 30 credits for the set of images (the household return, and the address page for the household, and the cover page showing the enumeration district details.

Credits: 6.95 pounds for 60 credits (12 pence per credit, good for 90 days) or
24.95 pounds for 280 credits (9 pence per credit, good for a year)

I paid for and downloaded the records I wanted to see for Mary Ann BUNTING and then I looked at them closely.

The census address page shows Mr. BROWN as head of the household, and the address as 52 Stowell Street, Salford.

I didn't know anything about England when I first started researching and had no clue where Salford was. It's part of Greater Manchester. If you live there, you will probably make a finer distinction than that, but the bottom line is, if you're looking for Salford, find Manchester city centre, and then look across the River Irwell to the west.


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Links to some interesting titles

THE GENERAL STRIKE IN SALFORD IN 1911

Haven't read it but it was the same year as the census. Must find out more about this strike.





In Search of Your British and Irish Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your English, Welsh, Scottish, & Irish Ancestors

One of the first family history books I bought was by Angus Baxter and I found his advice very useful. I wonder if I still have his books. I should go back to basics and read what he had to say about conducting research.



More resources for Manchester and Salford history, from Amazon's catalogue