Record-linkage of entrepreneurs in the England and Wales Censuses 1851-91 using BBCE and I-CeM

Abstract

WP 24 uses a simple and efficient computational method for inter-census record linkage based on Jaro-Winkler, with fuzzy name matching and data blocking including birthplace and other standardisation. Entrepreneurs and a general population sample are derived from the BBCE and I-CeM England and Wales census datasets 1851-91. Matches are achieved with high precision (>0.9) for 10-30% of records in the candidate match pool, with recall rates of between >0.16 and >0.32.