The 1939 Register

I tried opening an entry for my mother at the address she was at (from other records) earlier in 1939 - it was declined as not present at that address.
I tried again using the address she was known to be at in 1940 - same response.
I tried again using her father's address although I thought it very unlikely having seen his entry record. I also added a note requesting that they did a local search as I was certain that she was in the locality at all times and also included a summary of the previous requests.
It was then confirmed that the entry had been opened - at the original address indicated. I am not sure why this was not found at the first request but fortunately FMP widened or repeated their search and gave me a result.
My feeling from this is that FMP do want to help and will do whatever is reasonably possible to achieve a result.

 

It may be that households are in fact in the process of being opened. I have revisited a few households that had previously closed records that are now open. We are often advised to take another look at record sets and can be pleasantly surprised by interim additions.

 

You can see the latitude & longitude that Findmypast have assigned to the location of a 1939 household by clicking "Report an error" at bottom right of a Register Transcription. The corrections form that appears has a row for "Lattitude/Longitude" (sic). Its accuracy is sometimes spot on but otherwise only good enough to identify the road, but I've found it useful. You can copy the lat/long entry and paste it directly in to Google maps or Streetmap, in addition to using the maps provided by Findmypast.

 

I had only been looking at the fmp/1939 ref. maps to add the area to the address when entering as a residence fact. But yesterday used the the alternate time based comparisons.....very interesting.

 

Hi folks - the update

I have had the entry opened - my mother was indeed at her grandmothers - I noticed that they also had her married name - as my parents married and died in Scotland I was not sure that this would be recorded. However they did live there for a few years between '58 and '67. These initials and date are for 1959 and I know that they were living in England. Mother had listed every home she had ever lived in - there were quite a few!

There was some red writing to the far right which I cant make out due to the closed entry below (probably my Uncle). Not seen much in the way of red additions to the register - anyone an idea?

 

I'm having a great time tracking down people in the 1939 Register.
Some were particularly difficult due to transcription errors in the surname.
I'm not surprised about finding errors. Millions of records were indexed in quite a short time. If I were doing it, I would probably start seeing double.

When FMP announced that the Register was going to be available under the general subscription rate and that those with yearly subs would pay the old price I was really pleased. - Until I got an email saying that my sub had not renewed.
I went to check what was going on and got a FMP server error. It was a few days before I got through and then I had to renew at the new price.
I told FMP what had happened and got a message back with an apology and that the refund would be in my account in three or four days. And it was!

Take a bow FMP.

 

Mostly green I've seen

 

I always knew you were a poet, and didn't know it.

 

Natural talent will out

 

As a famous frog once sang, "It's not easy being green"

 

Has anyone else noted a lot of formerly closed records being opened? I paid another set of 'visits' to my great aunts and uncles and found at least 3 records (for people born e.g. in the 1920s) are now open.
Do records open only if someone asks for it? One that surprised me was my father (born 1919 and died 2004) is now open, while his brother (1922-1988) remains closed.
Another surprise was the appearance of a cousin who I thought was still alive - maybe my mother forgot to tell me she had died.......

 

Records are opened if people send in death certificates. However, my cousin's record is open and she is still alive!

 

Yes they are being opened gradually, certainly worth 'revisiting ' Some do appear to have been opened despite the subject still living.

 

Do remember that the 1939 Register is not a census of those resident on a certain date, and if someone was in the forces they would not be in the register.

 

My father's record was opened last year a few months after his death. We had not sent a certificate to request this so have assumed some independent checking has been done.

 

FMP as well as updating based upon information supplied are checking records and updating as they find relevant records - or so I believe.

 

In the case of my uncle (my father's brother referred to), -no, he was 17 and was 'presumably' the remaining 'closed' entry in the household with my grandmother and my father.

 

I have discovered that the entry for my uncle by marriage, born in 1939, has recently been opened, as has his brother's (born 1935). I phoned him to make sure it really was his entry by checking his parents' details, and he said his brother is still alive too. But to have their entries closed again I would have to provide proof that they are both still alive in the form of a driving licence or passport, and as they both live 200 miles away that isn't very easy.