1921 census release

I was able to discover that after my great-grandmother's death (in Mar 1921) that my grandmother (her father and sister) moved in with his parents, and his older sister and her family. My grandmother was mostly brought up by her aunt and grandmother.

 

It seems FMP automated place name field has been at work. Unless it fits its not accepted. So even if it says Cheswick Middlesex on the image the place finder will allocate the place to its 'correct' county. This renders the 'Birth County Search' a little useless at times. I haven't seen any images yet but so far I have Davington Kent which is a birthplace normally given as Dorrington Shropshire. Notton Yorks which is presumably Nott'm Nottinghamshire. Bedstone Shropshire is actually a Bedfordshire birthplace, so all a little suspect.

 

Apart from the transcriptions being cheaper I opt for the image only each time, and apart from having to decipher handwriting I am in a better position than the transcriber in knowing or best guessing what is written. Of course transcription errors will be the order of the day especially as we live in the day and age of corrective software, so my advice stick with the image and do your own transcription.

 

I am having considerable success using just the search facility, have only paid for one image. In many case I already know the street address for the target family, and this can be entered in the advanced search page with or without the family surname. If the street address is not known, then for many cases finding one entry in the household, then searching using the surname and the parish brings up a list which enables all the people with that name in each household to be identified. Examples. I have found my great grandmother, with my grandfather and his sister together, but then in the same household is my grandfather's cousin. My wife's mother had two sisters born before her. The three girls had different fathers. In 1921 one of them was with her deceased father's parents, one was with her mother listed with her mother's new surname.

 

I had 22 living direct ancestors in 1921 and was expecting to find them in about 13 or 14 households, so I had to prioritise on the few most interesting ones - even the five records I've bought are stretching my budget a little.

One annoying one is where my ancestor was staying at a hotel, and the group of people I was interested in seeing was split over two pages of the return. I assumed I had paid for the whole return, but apparently I just get one page - I've written to FMP's support team to ask if this is correct, and will see what they say.

The most interesting one so far has been my great grandfather who was an agricultural labourer, and it gives the name of his employer and the name of the farm. The employer turned out to be a distant cousin who I already had in my tree but hadn't researched much, and his wife had the same maiden name as my great grandfather's surname... as far as I can tell they're not related on the paternal line, but they are related on a maternal line - so my great grandfather's employers were his second cousin and his fourth cousin!

 

I have found one case where 4 members of a nuclear family are spread across 4 separate census records, even though it must be one household. I suspect the location is a military establishment, as the occupation of the head of the family was Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1909 and Royal Military Police in 1939. In 1911 he was on a ship in Malta. Maybe it is a quirk of the way the census works for institutions that each individual constitutes a separate entry.

 

In all honesty, due to half my family having emigrated prior to 1906, some illegitimacy, plus Scottish ancestry and deaths prior to 1921 (and in two cases in early 1921) I had a grand total of 9 direct ancestors to find in the 1921 census, this including both my maternal grandparents who were 11 and 6 respectively.

So I accessed a grand total of 4 households and now I'm debating if there's another else I want to look up for my own interest from the extended family.

 

I'm sure they have done that on purpose, to generate more income (from us suckers).

 

A friend has purchased the image for 10 Fairlight Road Wandsworth. An address search shows 7 results. The image she purchased contains a newly wed couple and their Son. The females parents and 2 siblings are at the same address but enumerated as a separate household. So by purchasing an address you don't necessarily get all the occupants - presumably if they are living separately or the property has been subdivided.

 

I have a blind lady who appears unexpectedly in Southend on Sea on her own on this census. I wonder as is your case, whether she is in an institution (where I expected to find her), and as you say 'each individual constitutes a separate entry'.

 

This Item in the Census FAQs at findmypast may help.
The final paragraph states
"The various returns that make up an institution required the same digitisation and transcription process as separate household returns, therefore they are purchased and viewed individually. "

 

I've found that if I do a search for a relative and find they are living with (say) John, Mary and 2 others, I can easily find the details of all these 4 people by going to Advanced Search, putting nothing in the name field, but entering the parish and the full name of my relative in the 'Other household member' boxes at the bottom. It has come back with a list of my relative's housemates and no others. Perhaps I've just been lucky with smallish parishes and relatively uncommon surnames but it's worked like a dream for me. Useful for checking the people in a household (their full names, year and place of birth) of more distant relatives, where I can't justify paying for the image.

For direct line relatives, I've found the image useful for finding out their employment details, confirmation of relationships, marital status, age to the month, etc. so I have purchased a handful of those - I like the maps too! It also made me realise why my great-grandparents moved a few doors down the same road between 1911 and 1921 - they went from 5 rooms to 8 rooms, presumably needed as their children grew up and needed more space.

 

My Dad is on a page with 14 other boys, in what I assume is the Naval Training place that was listed in my aunt's emigration form of 1924. I cannot be sure because the cover does not really state anything and I cannot look at other pages. He is #329 on that page, so, dividing by 15 there would be a great many pages before his. They are not alphabetical. He is listed as inmate, 12 years 11 months of age. Of course, given his age, it could also have been a workhouse.

My aunt is on a page with only two other girls; again I cannot determine just where she was. Listed as inmate.

 

I found someone in a mental institution. The only way I found the name of the institution was by buying a transcription as well as the original image.

 

Is it really necessary at Kew to book and to order a document in order to gain access to a computer, as reported by one Gay in yesterday's newsletter? This seems to differ from what is stated on the National Archives website: "The 1921 Census of England and Wales is now available in digital format in our reading rooms, free of charge. You do not need to book to access it, although we may operate timed slots at particularly busy times to help manage demand."

 

Reporting transcription errors
Further to my post above I have received the following reply from FMP

'Thank you for getting in touch.

It is not directly possible to report a transcription error from an image on-site, only the transcription however we appreciate you may see errors via an image that you have viewed.

Transcription errors found without purchasing the transcript itself can be reported by emailing transcriptsupport@findmypast.com

Please include a link to the record and a brief description of the error, for example, the first name is recorded as Jo when the image shows it as John. Please use 1921 Census transcription update as the email subject line, this will allow us to correct errors quicker and more efficiently.

Further information can be found on the following page:
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/help/articles/4415870561041-how-was-the-1921-census-transcribed-'

 

Searching for ships in dock? How do I find a ship in port on the census please?

My grandfather was discharged from a ship (Scythian, the master was A McQuaker) in Victoria Docks London the day after the census was taken, as far as I can tell the ship missed the census but I would like to check. I have looked for his name and the masters name to no avail, but would like to see if the ship made port in time for the census.