1921 Census

[follyfancier]

I use Ancestry for my family trees but cant see links to the 1921 census yet ,it only seems to be available on Find My Past

[Buenchico]

According to the official National Archives website, on Gov.uk, only FindMyPast has digitised the 1921 census records:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20s-people/the-1921-census/where-can-i-access-the-1921-census/

[Etch]

Buenchico beat me to posting the link. It says:

"The 1921 Census of England and Wales has been made available online through an extensive digitisation project with family history website, Findmypast. It is available for you to access in two ways:

1. You can view it online via Findmypast. Access to each record comes with a small fee – you can find details of pricing here: www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census.
2. Or, for free access, you can visit The National Archives in Southwest London or at our two partner locations: Manchester Central Library on St Peter’s Square in Manchester, and the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. At these locations you will be able to view the Census records via the Findmypast website, but without the charges.

[Prudie]

I'm also cross and frustrated about this. Had I known I wouldn't have very recently renewed my Ancestry subscription.

[follyfancier]

same with me Prudie I just renewed mine last month for a whole year

[jno]

yes, only Find My Past and what's more even if you already have a paid subscription with them, you have to pay to look at entries and pay again to get the image. The only other way is to live near Kew or the handful of other archives. Very greedy.

This has been known about for quite some time, though.

[Buenchico]

It might be worth checking out local libraries. Here in Suffolk, the library edition of FindMyPast can be accessed from any of the county's public libraries:
https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/reference-library/genealogy-and-family-history
(It's not clear whether that includes access to the 1921 census data but, if your library subscribes to FindMyPast, it might be worth asking).

[Hopkirk]

A library? What's one of those?

[albaqwerty]

I've a cloudy recollection of reading somewhere that the 1921 census will become free to access in 2023 (wish I could remember where I read it)
It is free at the National Archives, London, Manchester Central Library and National Library of Wales.

Apparently it took transcribers 3 years to 'do' the census.

[Buenchico]

>>> Apparently it took transcribers 3 years to 'do' the census.

. . . and here's how they did it:

[jno]

there was a nice piece by Prof Olusoga in the Telegraph last week about the 1921 census. I was about three paragraphs in when I suddenly realised it was advertorial for Find My Past (the Telegraph doesn't go to a lot of trouble to make this clear). I was a little disappointed in him. I'm not sure historians should hook up with commercial sites.

[Gromit]

It is a year late because of lockdown.
I confess to being a bit nieve, there was an ancestor I was intrigued to see her progress.
I have lost her because her dad and uncles are not on the census and have death dates of 1914. I didn’t expect that. I haven’t finished my investigations yet but 5 males are missing, and I haven’t finished checking.
My great grandfather died 1914 and I had no idea. Made me sad.

[jno]

did they perhaps die in the war, Gromit?

[Gromit]

Jno.
Yes probably.
I have always thought the cannon fodder were kids.
These are blokes in their 30s and 40s and large families left behind.
I was a bit gutted. Been sad for a few days, and I think I have some more discoveries for Sunday when I can next look at the data.

[Gromit]

Tip: anyone searching the national archive via the findmypast.com should sign up for the top tier for £20/month.

[jno]

do try your local library, you may be able to get free access to FMP and Ancestry through them, and may even get remote access from home.