FreeCEN Field Descriptions

Spreadsheet Column letter: "Field" name	Whether Mandatory	Description & Rules
Personal Details
Column I SURNAME	Yes	Up to twentyfour characters Surname must be copied precisely - even if it looks wrong, or is known to be wrong! SSCENS: A name, or hyphen, MUST be entered in every cell in this Column Take care if using "Cut & Paste" or "Fill Down" spreadsheet tools!
Column J Forename(s)	Yes	Up to twentyfour characters Forenames must be copied precisely - even if known to be wrong! Abbreviated or mis-spelt names are to be typed as Enumerated Allow one space between names, initials, or words. In the unlikely event of insufficient space being available, reduce later forenames to an initial, but always spell in full the first name (where known). Titles are to be typed after forenames, enclosed in brackets/braces as in (Rev), (Dr), (Prof) etc. In an extreme case "Elizabeth (Lady Chalfont)" is covered by this rule. SSCENS: A name, or hyphen, MUST be entered in every cell in this Column
Column K Query	.	One character Enter an x if you have doubts about the names. A simple "?Forename" in Column Y will pinpoint your query.
Column L Relationship to Head	Yes	Up to six characters (Not used for 1841 census) While short words may be typed in full there are many relationships which will need abbreviation to suit this field. Appendix #1 comprises a table of Standard Abbreviations [7i] which must be used for such circumstances. The table will also be useful in demonstrating the principles to be applied if a 'standard' form cannot be found. If no relationship is recorded, enter a hyphen/dash.
Column M (Marital) Status	.	One character Do not make assumptions! Enter a single letter m, u, s, or w (Married, Unmarried, Single, or Widowed) as defined on the Census Page. If the Enumerator left it blank - so must you. Any other letter will be rejected, at conversion, as 'invalid'

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Spreadsheet Column letter: "Field" name	Whether Mandatory	Description & Rules
Column N Gender Male/Female	Yes	One character The Census Page has two columns for "Age", Male and Female FreeCEN reduces this to a single letter M or F Do not make assumptions! If the age columns are empty then enter - (hyphen) Some Enumerators were careless, writing "Robert, son" or "Jane, dau" and then filling the age in the 'wrong' column. In these instances use the gender that matches the relationship
Column O Age	Yes	Up to three numerals + one letter (y m w or d) A numeric value MUST be entered; zero is not acceptable: If age is blank or unreadable then enter 999 Ignore fractions; if the census states "less than 1 month" then enter 1m Note: no space between numbers and letter! Standard Rules for Age y (Years) maximum value = 120 m (Months) maximum value = 24m w (Weeks) maximum value = 20w d (Days) maximum value =30d (SSCENS only): If only a number is entered, it will be converted as 'years'. Thus 46 or 46y will be converted to mean "46 Years" If marital Status is M or W then male age must not be less than 14y; female age not less than 12y. Scholars must be between 2y and 17y. Outside these limits a "Scholar" will need to be transcribed as "Student (orig: Scholar)" Any values outside the above guidelines will be flagged as "Invalid" at conversion
Column P Query	Blank or 'x'	One character Enter an x if you have doubts about entries in Columns L to O. A simple "?Age" in Column Y will pinpoint your query.

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