Access to the 1921 Census

[Guy Etchells]

Access to the 1921 census

In times of economic stress such as these the government might be open to any idea that could generate useful revenue and the 1921 census is one such project.

A way to generate income, provide jobs and boost the economy all at the same time without making cuts.
Such a policy must be popular with the electorate.

The National Audit Office report on the release of the 1901 census stated that the internet access to the 1901 generated revenues of £4.5 million by October 2003, less than one year.
In five years that amounts to a conservative sum of £22.5 million and useful figure for even a government to play with.

I would therefore like to suggest a campaign to encourage the government to release the 1921 now.
Now is the time to write to Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament we may be able to obtain a change in policy.

If you want access to the 1921 census now is possibly the only time to act.
Cheers
Guy

[Penelopepitstop]

I would LOVE to see the census released early - where can we write to Guy please?

[Aussie Shep]

Where do I sign

[SBSFamilyhistory]

yes that would be nice but very unlikely to happen

The 1921 Census was taken on the night of Sunday 19th June 1921.
It had been originally planned that the census would be taken on the night of 24th April 1921 but this was delayed because of strikes.
Extra questions asked over the 1911 census included
• whether a marriage has been dissolved by divorce
• where each person works
• the industry within which someone works
The question introduced in 1911 about the number of children was dropped, the reason given was that the results from the previous census had not yet been tabulated. Also the question about blindness, deafness or dumbness were removed on the grounds that the answers given in the previous census were unreliable and also parents had objected to giving this information about their children.
Accessing the 1921 Census .... when will the 1921 Census be released?
The ruling by the Information Commissioner that resulted in the 1911 census being opened early does not apply to the 1921 census because, unlike the 1911 census, the 1921 census was conducted under the 1920 Census Act, which is still in force and which contains a statutory prohibition on disclosure.
The stated government position from the ONS is "its intention to release the entirety of the 1921 census returns in 2022, in accordance with the non-statutory '100 year rule' which was adopted to reflect this undertaking of confidentiality".

this was take from 1911Census.org.uk

Sue

[AnnR]

I would therefore like to suggest a campaign to encourage the government to release the 1921 now.

Sorry, I have to disagree strongy, much as access would help me personally. Our ancestors were given an assurance that no personal information woud be released for 100 years, and it is this guarantee that ensured that most of them completed the returns honestly to the best of their abiblity. We are duty bound to honour that assurance. After all they were not completed with the intention of making our lives as genealogists easier!

With another census due next year, how can we possibly ask people to complete the returns honestly by guaranteeing confidentiality knowing that we ourselves have campaigned for the early release of historical censuses?

[gasser]

Sorry, I have to disagree strongy, much as access would help me personally. Our ancestors were given an assurance that no personal information woud be released for 100 years, and it is this guarantee that ensured that most of them completed the returns honestly to the best of their abiblity. We are duty bound to honour that assurance. After all they were not completed with the intention of making our lives as genealogists easier!

With another census due next year, how can we possibly ask people to complete the returns honestly by guaranteeing confidentiality knowing that we ourselves have campaigned for the early release of historical censuses?

I'm with you Ann. I agree wholeheartedly on the points you have made particularly about being 'duty bound to honour that assurance' that no personal information would be released for 100 years. My husband's family run a residential home and have 3 residents over the age of 100 who still have all their faculties. If they wish to talk about their lives and family upbringing then that is their privilege but to have everyone able to access their families personal information is just 'not on'

regards
Gail aka gasser

[AnnR]

My point exactly Gail. Everyone over the age of 90 will be included on that census, and with life expectancy increasing, that's cracking on for 1m people. Who knows what upsets could be caused to those people? - secrets they've kept all their lives - secrets they never knew about themselves but could cause huge distress.

[MarkJ]

Are these "secrets" not available (in a round about way) already? 100 years or 10 years, anyone can find out stuff about anyone else without too much difficulty. For example, my birth, marriage and birth of my children is easily found by anyone with access to the GRO index (so anyone with subs to a PPV site for example).
Of course, I do realise that there are some people - and my wife is one of them - who are paranoid about their details being "out there" - but the simple fact is that they are!
My mother can be found on the FreeBMD index (which is slowly getting towards the 1950's now) - and from a simple lookup of her name in FreeBMD, I can see her mothers maiden name. From there, it is an easy jump to her parents (even without buying the certs) and then to the available censuses. Would being able to see her parents 10 years on in a census make a lot of difference? I doubt it. Yes, there may be very odd instances where there are family secrets uncovered if the 1921 was released early - but to be honest, we probably already know all about these more recent secrets or have discovered them via BMD certificates already.

Personally, I have no feelings either way on the release of the 1921 census. Yes, it may be of some (limited) use - like the 1911, we probably know most of the information already, but it is interesting to see our ancestors signatures and the number of rooms in the dwelling. On the other hand, any release - early or otherwise - of the 1921 census will be accompanied by an over-inflated charge made to view this data which our ancestors were legally obliged to complete and IMHO should be free of charge for all UK citizens to view (as should ALL the census data up to the latest release).

Note that this is my own personal viewpoint as a member of the forum, rather than in my "official" capacity here

Mark

[AnnR]

Sure, Mark, I take your point that if you are determined enough you can do all those things. But sometimes it's the census that gives us a clue to go looking in other sources. There are the missing siblings for instance, whether from death or adoption. Having it disclosed that you, a parent, a sibling, had spent time in an institution of some kind, maybe prison or a house of correction or a 'lunatic asylum'. How about discovering that the man who's name is on you birth certificate as your father and who brought you up couldn't in fact have been your father as he was stationed in Hong Kong or some such outpost of empire at the crucial time. It's one thing to discover these things about our ancestors - and if we can't handle it we shouldn't be looking - but for people who are still alive and prefer not to know/tell it's a different matter.

In any case there is still the issue of trust and guarantees given at the time. Maybe it's my recent career in governance in the NHS that makes me feel so strongly about it. I'll get off the soapbox now and try to remain silent.

[gasser]

Mark...I agree people are able to access bmd's very easily but that is not the issue.
We are talking about living people's feelings here. The census reveals all sorts of information [that is not found via the GRO !] which many people still living may wish others in their neighbourhood and general social circles, not to know about! Indeed as Ann pointed out - information that they themselves did not know could be revealed and so cause huge distress! The 100 year ruling was a way of ensuring that all personal information that was given voluntarily, would be kept from public view.
Anyway the release of the 1921 census won't happen yet so I'll shut up now!