Merv Goss has transcribed an 1801 Census of Bickleigh. A number of early census records do exist for Devon and are to be found in the Record Office but these vary widely in content, some only giving a total for the numbers of residents by category. Looking at these ancient returns, we can see how the government's quest for information evolved over the years and this is a very unusual example in that it provides a considerable amount of useful detail: