Ancestry launches 1921 Census for England and Wales

Auckland Council Libraries provides free access to a variety of online family history resources, including genealogy websites such as Ancestry, Findmypast, The Genealogist and MyHeritage.

Recently, Ancestry launched the 1921 Census for England and Wales  (this includes the Isle of Mann and the Channel Islands). This census is a significant resource for us family history librarians and fellow researchers.

The modern census was taken every 10 years from 1841 onwards, and grouped families together, provided names, addresses and other useful genealogical information. The later census records are particularly valuable as they progressively asked more questions that are relevant to family historians. These records are subject to the 100-year privacy laws and are only released one hundred years after the census was taken.

Findmypast originally won the tender for the 1921 Census, first publishing it on their website in 2022, after they had completed conservation/preservation work on the original documents, scanned the images, transcribed, and indexed the whole record collection. They had exclusivity for three years in a pay-per-view format to recoup the cost of digitisation. The 1921 census is the last one available until the 1951 census, which will probably be published in 2051. (Not sure I will still be alive and researching by then). The 1931 census was destroyed in a fire during the Second World War, and the 1941 census wasn’t conducted due to the same war.

To bridge the gap, we have the 1939 Register published on both Ancestry and Findmypast. While it contains similar information, it is not legally considered a census. The 1939 register was created to enumerate the civilian population of England and Wales, assisting the government with rationing, labour force assessment and aid in conscription. After the war, it formed the backbone of the National Health Service and was updated till 1990 when the NHS became computerised.

Census records for people who whakapapa back to the United Kingdom and Ireland are invaluable for family historians who have completed their research in Aotearoa New Zealand and want to trace their British roots. However, tracing these roots can be challenging unless the documentation in Aotearoa New Zealand provides clues – such as what part of the British Isles did an ancestor come from, were there other family members that came with them, do they have middle names or an unusual name?

One of the most effective strategies is to locate family groups in the UK census and match them up with dates of birth and other information. If the family group is absent from the next census, it could indicate that the family may have left to immigrate to Aotearoa New Zealand. Sometimes family groups are fragmented due to various circumstances. People may have died between censuses, children might have left to work or marry, or individuals could be boarding with relatives. In times of war or hardship, related groups within the same family often chose to live together, creating complex but revealing patterns in the records.

The 1921 census record above, shows a fascinating multi-generational family: a grandmother, her son, granddaughter, grandson, and great-grandson. Margaret Boother (nee Sullivan) had ten children, who would have been adults by 1921. Most would have likely left home to start their own families- assuming they all had survived. George W. Jr. (a twin) died as baby in 1885, Annie May died aged three in 1886, Jessie (Edith’s mother) died in 1909 and James D died in the battle of Marne, 1914, First World War. 

This record raises several intriguing questions such as:

Where is Margaret’s husband George? Where is Edith Harvey’s husband, Hedley (my grandparents and Hedley’s Jr.’s father)? James George Ward and Edith are half-siblings. We know Edith and James’ mother Jessie has died, but where is James’ father, James Sr.?

This single census record provides countless avenues for further research. How many of these individuals can we find in the 1939 Register?

This one single historical document can hold so much information giving us the opportunity to dive deeper and uncover their stories! 

Happy hunting

Author: Seonaid (Shona) Harvey, Family History Librarian

aka@genebrarian