Early (partial) Access to the 1911 census from John Ferguson Breaking News... The Freedom of Information Commissioner has decided that Limited Access can be made to Information from the 1911 Census The National Archives(TNA) released the following press release http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/13dec2006.pdf The Society of Genealogists met with TNA on 13 December and was delighted to learn that the effect of the decision means that The National Archives must supply SOME information from the 1911 in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Family Historians and other searchers will be able, from 17 January 2007, to pay for searches in the census from the TNA paid research service at a cost of £45 per address search. Sensitive information will be redacted (i.e. blacked out) from the census information given to the recipient. Note that until the census is fully digitised searches can only be made using addresses and not surnames. Hence searches must be made using the special online census search request forms that will be made available on TNA's web site in January. See the 1911 FAQ http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help/1911census/faq-foi.htm for more information on making a search request. The Census will not be made available in microform nor will public access be allowed to the original returns. TNA is developing a digitised online 1911service and is speeding up the process. It hopes that a limited online search facility will be ready in 2009 with some key sensitive information (such as infirmity or mental condition) withheld until the release of the full census in 2012. Genealogists will no doubt find the online search facility quicker, cheaper and easier to use than the paid search requests and will probably wait until the full index is available in 2009. Further notes on access to the census are available on TNA's web site http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/1911census/?homepage=news The Information Commissioners decision is available online at http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/decision_notices/2006_12.aspx Else Churchill Genealogy Officer 13 December 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************************************** To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://www.hull.ac.uk/legal/email_disclaimer.html *****************************************************************************************