Following the 1876 Education Act, elementary schooling became compulsory. To assist in enforcing the new laws the Llangynfelyn School Board decided to appoint an Attendance Officer in June 1877 (see the Minutes), whose first duty was to make a Census of all children living in the parish.

The Census records name of father, abode and occupation of father, plus the name, age and date of birth of each child (under 13) together with which school they attend (if any).

The format of the transcript has been slightly compressed to save space. The original does not record the childrens' surnames, but these have been added from the father to make searching easier. It is possible that some of these may be incorrect (nieces, nephews etc.). The original shows a number of corrections to the original birth date in red ink. The corrected dates are used here. The father's details are shown on one line, followed by all the children. For the children the columns are Age, whether at public school, which school attended, and date of birth

The same volume also includes a second census in January 1882, which then becomes a rolling register of children in the parish. School attendance is no longer noted, but some extra notes give interesting information: e.g. "Gone to America" etc. This part has not yet been transcribed, but is available for public access at Ceredigion Archives.