1939 Register

Well, having waited over a year for +Findmypast to complete the task of digitising the 1939 Register Sunday night was the last sleep before the 1939 Register went live. Instead of getting up early, I went to bed late,very late!

I was keen to look for my Grandparents, it was just two months before they married and I found them, more or less where I expected them to be. 

The National Archives (TNA)-R39-1901-1901K-005
Image courtesy of FindMyPast

My Grandmother with her sister Elsie and brother in law and my Grandfather with his parents at Manor Farm Onslow Village Guildford. Living next door was his older sister Rose and her husband and two children and in another farm cottage was another brother with his wife and children. 

There has been much controversy about costings. I received a voucher code as a world subscription holder. The voucher gave me a 25% discount. I have not used it though as I had a substantial amount of FMP credits which I had acquired some years ago.

For the benefit of readers outside of the UK. The wonderful thing about the 1939 Register is that it is the closest thing we can get to a Census that is available to view after the 1911 Census.

The 1921 Census is not available to be viewed as yet and won't be until 1st Jan 2022 unless there is a decision to release the material early. The 1931 Census was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War and there was 1941 Census. The 1951 Census won't be available to view until 1st January 2052 by which time I will be an elderly lady! So this is a GREAT piece of social history that plugs the gap of around about 30 years.

Not everyone can be viewed. The black lines in the image above show that an individual has been redacted. The Register itself was updated until the late 1980's I believe having been the forerunner for ration books, identity cards and National Health information. Where an individual died after 1991 then the information can be opened to view upon receipt of a copy of the death certificate.

There are some inconsistencies, my Grandmother who died in 1995 should have been redacted and I was nicely surprised to see her entry viewable and the record had been updated to show her married name.

Overall, I am please with the information. Yes, it is a great shame that the dataset is not within the subscription package, but it is what it is. I have some more exploring to do on the site as want to track down my Grandmother's brothers and one of my Grandfather's. I also want to find my husband's father and paternal grandfather, who are not with his grandmother. Not to mention extract what information I can for my One-Name studies for the surnames of Worship & Orlando, plus for my two UK based One-Place studies.

The originals are held at the National Archives and can be viewed free of charge.