A whole lot more about Britain in 1939 has just been revealed ......... new releases from the 1939 Register

Now if you are tracking anyone in the early part of the 20th century you will know that there are pitfalls.

Uncle Roger and mum, 1938

Not least because details from the 1921 census will not be released for another five years, the 1931 census was destroyed in an air raid and there was no census taken in 1941.

All of which makes the 1939 Register pretty important.

It was compiled in late September of that year as part of the country’s response to the outbreak of the war.

The Government had taken the decision a year earlier to compile a National Register that in the event of war would list l the personal details of every civilian in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mum and friend, 1942

The information was used to issue identity cards, organise rationing and  after the war for the National Health Service.

And for anyone looking for an individual or family member from the period the 1939 Register bridges the gap between the 1911 census and the list ones of the middle decades of the century,

But like all such sensitive information the details were subject to concerns over data protection and so when findmypast digitalised the records two years ago they chose to withhold some of the records.

This amounted to about 13 million or 32% of the total list of names, with details of people born less than a century ago and not known to have died before 1991.

The new records went live on November 16.

All of which meant when I went looking for my mum and grandparents I hit a brick wall.

They were there but mum’s entry had been redacted, which is that posh word for blanked out.

Mum, 1949

But now findmypast has matched millions of closed entries to other sources such as death records and has been able confirm that another three million records can now be shown.

And amongst those are mum’s.  In the September of 1939 she was at home and gave her occupation as
Unemployed cashier.  Not much perhaps but helps fill in a bit more of the story.

I know that on leaving school she had worked in a silk factory but had been “let go” when her apprenticeship ended and by 1942 she was in the RAF.  So it is a bit more.

And for that I am pleased.

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The 1939 Register, findmypast, findmypast.co.uk

A little bit more of 1939 is revealed........... unlocking the 1939 Register

Nana & Uncle Roger, 1929

Now if like me you were a bit disappointed when Findmypast unveiled the 1939 Register promising so many great things but making you pay more to see it, the news that that it will now just be part of the subscription will be good news.

I could just about swallow the explanation that the high cost of transcribing the information might justify paying extra but I wasn’t happy and remain miffed that certain information is blocked due to the 100 year rule and that  to unlock those details will involve an added cost.

The good news is that from February 16 it will become just another set of records which can be accessed within the subscription.

That said from the same date the price of the subscription will rise by 20% according to WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE MAGAZINE?

From this date, the cost of a new British membership will be £119’95 and a World Membership £155.95.

Now I subscribe to Findmypast as well as Ancestry but seem to have missed the email about the 1939 Register and the price rise.

Still it seems that it will freeze the subscription rates for existing members when they next renew and they will also be offered a loyalty discount when they do.

Picture; Nana and Uncle Roger in the back yard of 12 Hope Street Derby, 1929, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE MAGAZINE? Issue 110, March 2016, www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com

Be careful what you wish for ............ looking at the 1939 Register

Now like a lot of people I have been eagerly awaiting the publication online of the 1939 Register.

It was complied on September 29 1939 and listed the names addresses and occupations of 41 million Britons.

The idea for a national register had been floated the year before and was seen as necessary in the event of a war.

The information it contained was used in the organisation of identity and ration cards and after the war in the establishment of the National Health Service.

That in itself makes it a very important document but more so because it will be another six years before the 1921 census is published.

Added to which there is a gaping hole in what will be available given that the 1931 census was destroyed and the 1941 census was never taken.

And so I was there this morning ready to search for my family.

But nothing is that easy.

I had assumed at first it would be free to subscribers but no it currently can only be accessed by a sliding scale of payments depending on how many householders you want to see.

Undaunted I went ahead grudgingly accepting the argument that the cost had been so great that the charge was necessary.

And there were Nana and granddad where I knew they would be and engaged in what work I thought they would be back in 1939.

He described himself as "Building labourer heavy worker" and Nana was down as "unpaid domestic duties."

I had assumed that at least mother would also be there although I knew my uncle had by then been in the RAF for a year and would be elsewhere.

What I was not prepared for was a blocked out line with the message “This record is officially closed.”

Now mother was born in 1920 so she is covered by the 100 year rule which excludes anyone looking at information relating to people born after 1915.

That said there is a chance that I can circumvent the regulation by providing proof of my mother’s death.

We shall see.

In the meantime the entry also offers up details on their neighbours, some of whom I knew and some who have also been blocked out.

Like granddad they were mainly manual workers which provides a snapshot  of the occupations of Hope Street and so by extension profile of the place.

Pictures; mother and uncle Roger circa 1939 and Nana and granddad circa 1930s from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Looking for my great grandmother in September 1939 ............ a unique set of records go online

Now next Monday will be a lot more interesting because Findmypast  has put the 1939 Register online*

Nana and grandad circa 1930s

The Register contains the names, addresses and occupations of everyone in England and Wales in 1939 and was used as the basis for rationing, identity cards and the National Health Service just under a decade later.

That in itself makes it a very important document but more so because it will be another six years before the 1921 census is published.

Added to which there is a gaping hole in what will be available given that the 1931 census was destroyed and the 1941 census was never taken.

Great grandmother Eliza and a policeman, 1894

And that will be important for me because after nearly a decade I have gone back to looking for my immediate family and in particular my great grandmother.

Eliza Boot was born in 1872 and had five children but never married their father.

They were a colourful pair, having once been fined for fighting with a policeman in 1894 and eventually separating in 1902 with Eliza retuning north to Derby to have her last child in the workhouse.

The surviving four children spent time in institutions and was migrated to Canada as a British Home Child.

And apart from a few fragmentary references and her death certificate I have very little else to go on.

Nana in Derby, 1930

Her medical records have long since been destroyed and her National Insurance records cannot be accessed, so just maybe the 1939 Register will reveal something to fill the gap between an address in a street directory in 1925a comment in a letter in 1941 and the official record of her death.

We shall see.

And if she continues to fall though the net there will be mother, uncle Roger and Nana and granddad in Derby and dad who by 1939 had migrated south from Gateshead to London.

So I travel in hope because there are 41 million lives recorded in the register.

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* Monday November 2 2015, the 1939 Register will be made available online for the very first time, only on findmypast,