I Hope I'll Get To See The 1921 Census Release In 2022

[DJHawkes]

I don't think I'll see the next release, but if these plans go ahead, things look set to be very tough for future generations of genealogists. though in 100 years time will there be nothing else to reveal?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23943490

[KARL]

As with the joke I heard told overseas: "He is world famous here", anyone working within any one set of circumstances tends to think they are not only acceptable but actually the world's best until they experience something better. There is no ongoing register of residents in the UK which is why censuses have been carried out and, to my knowledge, this lack of a national register is unique within Western Europe. Elsewhere you can pretty much instantly prove who you are and where you reside but in the UK we have the farce of utility bills, etc. being a muddled attempt at proof. When police ask anyone for details they are handicapped because of the absence of a joined up system that is up to date. As I said previously, in Europe people, including authorities and institutions, regard the UK as being way behind and, having seen more efficient systems in operation where I was able to do all my transactions without the "we'll see if it will be possible" barrier constantly faced here where each institution and authority is struggling to keep its own system and worrying not only over costs, coverage, etc. but whether it works. One has every time to start from the beginning when dealing with a different department, authority, institution, without knowing how it will go. The UK Government knows about this and squirms whenever figures are asked for and then criticised - there is some knowledge of how other countries fare better. So far I have been considering the global issue - as for pure genealogy, just because it is possible to uncover details in lots of disjointed records does not make it the best system although I can understand how the existence of any records at all will be welcome. Getting all the information from a single point of contact once all the different sources have been joined up is a superior state of affairs. Yes, you are correct, much changes when transcription is completed but until then, like it or not, those who have managed their records better are quite simply more advanced in this matter than is the UK.

[DJHawkes]

which governments specifically do you hold in such high esteem for their data collecting skills?

[KARL]

The whole point is that records are about the past and the best ones have been kept continuously for a long time. In the very widest sense, records are the possessions of nations, not governments, and those nations which keep the most useful records enjoy the benefits. Wait until tomorrow to record yesterday's facts and the record is almost certain to be imperfect and unreliable - guesswork after the fact is so easily dismissed. Maintaining and constantly updating existing records indefinitely is generally a national matter although financing the enterprise usually falls to successive governments to ensure. In the cases I am aware of, comprehensive modern records have been kept for at least many decades and over that time governments of all political colours within those nations have supported that endevour with the nations' full blessing. Genealogical considerations are merely a rather small part of the overall concept. The UK is different in that here there is considerable resistance to maintaining systems such as for a long time have been commonplace elsewhere in Europe, although there is evidence of internal pressures for the UK to join the "norm" building up for quite some time but not yet sufficiently for resistance to be swept away. This is of course the nation's (or at least the majority's) prerogative but complaining about the consequences of having a rickety national management system as a direct result of deliberately having inadequate procedures is a contradiction. I do not generally admire governments (I find some better than others though - Obama vs Bush for example, but this is just an unimportant opinion) but I do admire good sense among the public as much as I find moaning about home grown problems tiresome.

[DJHawkes]

right, so which government in your experience has created the best legacy for us as in the best genealogical sources? I personally feel there is an amazing collection of records available in many countries but it takes time, experience, finances and patience to link them together, you are perhaps looking for a more comprehensive online set of records that are perhaps a very long way off for many countries, just because the internet is available, does not mean that there has been someone with the knowledge and experience of the primary sources available to create an online catalogue. We are missing out on so much information by not using our CROs, I myself can't remember the last time I used my readers ticket, but we can't sit at home expecting the records tro somehow miraculously find themselves indexed and filmed and sitting at the touch of a button, that's for future generations, if we want the satisfaction of completeness for our research we have to go where the records are, not hope someone is indexing them quickly

[KARL]

As I already mentioned, genealogy is on the periphery and something of a spin-off from the sort of record keeping I have in mind. It is not to make genealogy an easier activity/hobby that comprehensive records on a single database are set up of the type I have been referring to and are found in many countries. But when such records are in existence, genealogy researchers benefit enormously. I don't know the full list but I do know that many or most of the EEA countries have for decades compiled records, each with a single, unified database linkage. As for which is the best and most accessible genealogy database, which has been compiled by bringing together a wide variety of historic sources and is updated daily from the current/modern single database in the country (i.e. for these purposes births, deaths, marriages, registered co-habitation), that is almost certainly the one in Iceland. The cost and effort per capita of maintaining this is probably somewhat higher due to the small scale - i.e. had this been undertaken in the UK (every facet of the database) it would be cheaper per capita to maintain it because of the larger scale. The whole of the Icelandic one is available directly online and if you know of any of your lineage involving an Icelander, even going back several centuries, then you will be able to follow the bloodline back, forward and sideways at will, online anytime and for free. It is found at www.islendingabok.is. This is of course not possible in the UK, or anything remotely approaching it. The Icelandic situation is the result of past and present public/national attitudes and decision making, just as the situation in the UK reflects this nation's. Different nations have their different situations and conditions depending on their choices and, in my humble opinion, in this area at least I think the UK has made a mistake or, to put it differently, it has made bad choices. In England England's situation is the world's best until one looks beyond its borders.

[March-Hare]

Just found this on line regarding the 1921 and 1931 ............... anyone know if the destruction of the 1931 is true??:

The 1921 census is closed until January 2022. The ruling by the Information Commissioner that resulted in the 1911 census being opened early does not apply to the 1921 census because, unlike the 1911 census, the 1921 census was conducted under the 1920 Census Act, which is still in force and which contains a statutory prohibition on disclosure. Nevertheless, continuing challenges can be expected and there must be a very good chance that it will be available earlier than 2022. So a case of watch this space for 1921.

In theory the 1931 census for England & Wales would have been available for public access in 2032 or perhaps earlier if rules were to be changed. However that is not to be.
On the night of Saturday 19 December 1942, there was a fire at a store in Hayes, Middlesex. The store, the responsibility of the Office of Works, contained a large amount of furniture but in addition it contained the census records for England & Wales for 1931, that is the whole of the schedules, enumeration books and plans. They were all completely destroyed.

[DJHawkes]

oh yes that's true march hare, nothing after 1921 til 1951 cos none in 1941 and the earlier one destroyed, the 1921 probably will not get out before 1922 because it came under the newer statutes.