The story of Manchester’s 1851 census is a sad tale of water damage and illegibility until new technology came on the screen and lo and behold what had been unreadable suddenly because clear. This website tells the story of the Manchester census, has a online name index and informs where and how the census can now be consulted. It took 14 years for this project to be completed so make good use of it now.

http://www.1851-unfilmed.org.uk/intro.htm