The British Census returns for each decade from 1841 to 1901 are now available at various locations on the Internet. Copies of the Census returns for Dorset, including Cerne Abbas, are held in the Dorset History Centre and some have been indexed.

The Society receives frequent requests from family historians about the Census returns, usually to help identify the particular property in which someone they are researching may have lived. The Society is, therefore, researching the Census returns for Cerne Abbas, working back from the 1901 Census, in an attempt to relate people to specific properties in the village.