1911 Census: How to find the full reference numbers

After the blitz of free Findmypast.co.uk fun this past week for the World Cup, I was faced with a dilemma.

I had this for each entry:



But a real reference number looks like this:

"For example, the full reference given for the 8 year-old Yeo-Thomas is:
RG14PN5076 RG78PN225 RD78 SD1 ED5 SN313"
-quoted from the excellent Lost Cousins tutorial on Mastering the 1911 Census.

So what was I to do? I, like many others, were trying to hurry and get as many copies of documents needed from the 1911 census as possible, so I just downloaded and went on my way.

The secret is actually inside the Lost Cousins tutorial:

Go to the Findmypast Census Reference Search.

But wait - you have to have a piece number!



Ah hah! But where's the schedule number?

That's on your census, silly! Look at the upper right corner and it will give you the number.



Click search.

And in the results, you will see:



And that is the full reference number needed to record your census entry. Do yourself a favor and save that number - write it in your tree and add it to the file name.