Oxfordshire Family History Society

These CD sets contain a complete set of enumerators' books (in PDF format) for the whole of the modern county of Oxfordshire. Each set also includes the Society's index to that census (as on the CDs in the next section) and several other indxes and useful aids.
Each CD set is priced at £35.00.

Here are three full-page 1871 samples with some zoomed extracts.
Each image links to a higher resolution image.
The PDF links each offer a full single-page extract from the CDs.

RG10 1435/16r	PDF		An occupation field:
RG10 1437/35v	PDF		Some names:
RG10 1439/56r	PDF		Some birthplaces:

Your Questions, Our Answers

1. In what format are the CDs being made available?

   Each CD contains scanned images of all of the surviving original census enumerator's books for the modern-day county of Oxfordshire for a census year. These high quality scanned images have been reproduced for viewing using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which as cross-platform software, will work on PCs and Apple Macs alike. The images are easy to read using Acrobat's zoom facility, whilst individual pages of the enumerators' books can also be printed out to illustrate your family history.

2. Do these CDs have any "added value" features when compared with those products retailed by commercial companies?

   As well as the scans of the census enumerators' books for Oxfordshire and North Berkshire, each CD set includes a number of other added value features to distinguish it from the competition. Street indexes are included on each CD set for the major towns within the two counties. These show the parish, piece and folio number under which each street appears. A county parish map and an Oxford City parish map are also included. However, the jewel in the crown is the inclusion of the society's census index for the year in question. These indexes include all of the individuals enumerated within the census, and show the surname, forename, age, piece and folio number and parish of enumeration. These indexes have been carefully compiled by society members with local knowledge, and are a great time-saver for the busy researcher.

3. I want to include a few pages from the census enumerators' books within my family history. How do I go about it?

   Whilst it is not possible to copy and paste images from the CDs due to copyright restrictions imposed by the National Archives, individual pages can be printed out to a very high quality on any run-of-the-mill inkjet or laser printer. There is probably no better way to illustrate your research.

4. I want to minimise the costs of owning a CD set. How are they to be made available?

   The first census set to appear was that for 1871, with 1861, 1891 and 1841 following soon afterwards. Our most recent release was the 1901 CD set, which was launched in January 2006. Whilst online purchasing by credit card is not available for microfiche and book sales, all OFHS CDs can be purchased online via the website. Stocks of the five census CD sets now available are also usually taken to society meetings at the Exeter Hall. However, sales at meetings are by cash or cheque only, with the credit card option only being available online.

5. When can we expect to see future CDs set being made available?

   There are two CD sets to be launched in the foreseeable future, these being for the censuses of 1851, and 1881. Whilst it is difficult to predict a precise timescale for releasing such sets, it is fair to say that the 1851 census set will not be available for some time yet, as additional data-validation work is required before its release. In all probability, the 1881 census will be along shortly.