1939 Register

[Mitch in Notts]

I do agree with Guy. I had forgotten just how much we had paid for the 1911 until I was talking to a fellow amateur this afternoon - and yes it was a case of buy so many at £5 a page, and then wait for it to be part of a subscription for the rest.
I'm having £25 for my birthday next month and then I'll wait until it becomes available as part of a subscription in a year or two. Patience is a virtue, and I don't think my ancestors will disappear in that space of time

[Pam Downes]

I'll wait and see how many people are listed with granny before passing full judgment on the cost.

For some things it seems quite expensive, but as Guy says, the cost to FMP would have been several million. Even at a fiver a time, you need 200,000 searchs to recoup one million quid.
I expect that in time the 1939 Register will become part of the standard FMP subscription, just like the 1911 census did.

FMP world annual subscribers will get a 25% discount on a 5-household bundle. The code will be sent out shortly. The discount may apply to other FMP subs, but I can only speak on the basis of my sub.

Pam

[margarita]

Guy, am I right in thinking that this does not include Scotland?

I acquired my father's 1939 National Register entry for Scotland some time ago. It told me his address, date of birth and occupation - all of which I already knew. A bit of a disappointment really.

[Peter Goodey]

If we think it's expensive, it's a personal judgement based on our own household budgets. It's beside the point whether or not it reflects the company's costs.

We don't have to buy the product because the company took a commercial risk! Firms take commercial risks all the time and pricing is part of the risk.

A lot of us would like to look at the records out of interest. However at these prices we need to decide whether we have any outstanding genealogical questions which can only be answered by accessing these records. I know that some people are in that position but I suspect that most of us are not. For that reason, I won't be buying at those prices. When the pricing becomes more sensible - and it will eventually - I expect I'll look out of interest.

[timbo58]

Obviously I'd agree.
There are some collections of records, for instance, that some aspects of digitisation have to be very carefully weighed up before making a commitment, especially if records are transcribed in the Uk where the costs are the highest.

There are also 'hidden' costs to putting records online -it's not just the licensing fee to the source, that pales into insignificance compared with the fixed costs for photography, preservation orders and the staff costs of professional transcribers.
Most digitisation companies have to take a significant gamble on the returns that might be possible too.

[markpaul]

Access to Census records is available free by visiting The National Archives at Kew. Does anyone know if this applies to the 1939 Register, please?

[Peter Goodey]

Access to Census records is available free by visiting The National Archives at Kew. Does anyone know if this applies to the 1939 Register, please?

These will be "official digital images".

"Official digital images are defined by The National Archives as electronic copies of physical documents where the digital form is accessioned to become the official Public Record. The National Archives will not retain the original material and the newly created digital record will become the definitive official record".

I read that as meaning that the images will be available on the same basis as the paper records would have been ie free to view at the National Archives.

[markpaul]

Sounds hopeful.
If I can get over there and find them accessible I will post here (unless someone beats me to it!).

[Peter Goodey]

I've just checked and I can get to Kew for £15 return so if I wanted three households or more, that would be the way to do it for me.

Check the website though. I seem to recall that when the 1911 census was released, there were some restrictions to avoid overloading the system. Access only via a restricted number of terminals, perhaps. But my memory is flaky.

[David Tuson]

I'm going to curb my impatience and wait a couple of weeks before I log onto Findmypast as I expect the system to be overloaded with eager researchers.