Spring wrote: > The subject line and reference to the 100 year rule are apposite to the > news contained in the first issue of The Official 1911 Census > Newsletter, just received. There has always been the anomaly that some information is closed for 100 years (eg the census and hospital records), 70 years (eg coroners reports) whilst whilst BMD certificates are available right up until a couple of years ago and newspapers are available right up to today. > The Newsletter examines the background to the project (managed by > findmypast.com), explains why the census is being released three years > early (in batches) and discusses the new ranges of information added to > those taken in previous censuses.* *It will also the first census > scanned in colour. There's nothing in that newsletter that hasn't been made public already and has been available for some time. I was rather hoping that we'd have an up to date progress report of how far they've got. There's also no mention of the fact that the first places to be released will be the cities followed by large towns with the villages and hamlets being the last available. It's been released early because of agitation by a minority but it's the last census that can or will be made available before the 100 years is up. The 1921, 1951 and subsequent censuses will require special legislation and, much as we as genealogists and family historians might dislike it, our hobby is very low on MPs agendas, if it features at all. The 1931 census was destroyed through war activities and the 1941 was never taken (just in case anyone was wondering about them).

Hi Firebird Presumably, there was some sort of registration involved with the issue of ration books. Do you know what 'that' process would have been called and whether the data from it would have been kept? It would be great if (in time, of course ;-) ) it could be made available to fill in the gap left by the missing 1931 and 1941 censuses. Heather Firebird wrote: > The 1931 census was destroyed through war activities and the 1941 was never taken (just in case anyone was wondering about them). > >

The Quineys wrote: > Hi Firebird > > Presumably, there was some sort of registration involved with the issue > of ration books. Do you know what 'that' process would have been called > and whether the data from it would have been kept? It would be great if > (in time, of course ;-) ) it could be made available to fill in the gap > left by the missing 1931 and 1941 censuses. There was the 1939 registration but I believe that is subject to the 100 year rule as well, as it does still exist - unless someone knows different, of course :) It isn't as comprehensive as a census because it wasn't intended for that purpose. It was used as the basis for either the NHS or NI so they will be extra careful with that even though the numbers used in the original are no longer used today.

Firebird wrote: > It's been released early because of agitation by a minority... The minority who agitated may wish to believe this, but frankly I doubt it. The National Archives was committed to ensuring that the complete census would be available in 2012. By this they meant, not just the ability of individual researchers to view the original documents at Kew, but the ability for researchers worldwide to search through and view the images. This involves a gargantuan task of scanning, transcription and indexing, which was bound to take a number of years and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. My guess is that no company was prepared to put up the money to do the work with no prospect of a return on their investment for 4-5 years (would you, if you were in business?). So a deal was struck which allowed brightsolid (the company which owns findmypast) to release the fruits of their labours as they went on, bit by bit from 2009 until 2012 (the deadline for completion). It is a solution which makes sense for everyone. We should always remember that the oft quoted "100 year rule" under which the 1921 and subsequent censuses were conducted did not increase the level of privacy of the information provided. On the contrary - earlier censuses were undertaken under a promise of complete confidentiality, a promise which we have all been complicit in breaking for the sake of our own enjoyment of our hobby. Caroline