Dear Beara Subscribers, For those of you with British connections, I thought some of you may be interested to know the British Census for 1911 has just been made available. It covers most counties of England and some are still being added. Wales and Scotland will follow later. For the first time, the householder writes the information and signs the form (not the innumerator). It was brilliant to see my English Grandfather's signature and to see my Dad appear for the first time on a census. Other new information this census: the mother states how many children she has had and how many of them are still alive and how many died. (This avoids mistakes of double counting, and makes it easier to trace all children of a family, as they move in and out of households over 20/30 years; resulting in some never being traced between censuses). The only part not yet available (until 2011) is the last column. This states whether the person had disabilities. In England there were several types mentioned: feeble or senile (for elderly), and various classes of mental disabilities were classed as "idiot" (for slight problems), "lunatic", "imbicile" and I cannot remember the fourth category. Obviously, if anyone is still alive and this appeared on their family's records, it could cause problems. The forwarded link should help. I am told it is free, but was lucky enough to have the information I required passed on by a relative, so I haven't tried to use it myself yet. Another tip passed on to me from a history course I did: sometimes you find an odd child living with another family, or a child who should be there is not. Families often sent a child of an unmarried parent to stay overnight with neighbours or relatives on census night, so they would not appear on the official census. This also happened with children of servants. Anyway, good tree-hunting to one and all and a very Happy New Year to you from England. PS. I hope the attachment will get through the Beara-link firewalls. If not, google the National Archives in London and put "census 1911" and you should find the details. Good Luck! Mary Funnell Brighton, East Sussex England Note: forwarded message attached. Mary Funnell Bunny Villas 121 Ringmer Road North Moulsecoomb Brighton East Sussex BN1-9JA Telephone 01273 606345