This week, the 1939 National Identity Register for Scotland.
The 1939 National Identity Register returns for Scotland, compiled on 29 September 1939 for the purposes of wartime registration, exist in a computerised form but are not searchable online. The NRS offers an online ordering service for extracts, with details available at www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/national-register.
If your Scottish ancestor or relative was south of the border at the start of the war, the English and Welsh register has been digitised, and can be accessed on Ancestry, FindmyPast and MyHeritage, although information for anyone still alive will be redacted for privacy reasons.
Have fun!
* Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet is available for pre-order now at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/17717.
Chris
You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
I'm tempted by this, to trace where my great-grandfather was at the time. It's comparatively very expensive though and I'm not entirely sure what I'd receive in return without an example.
ReplyDeleteIf you follow the pages provided by the NRS link, you get the following:
Delete"Please be aware that due to the fact that this register is more modern than the Scottish census, which is closed for a 100 year period, it is only possible to provide limited information on the named individual; namely their address in 1939, marital status, age and occupation."
Chris
PS: age actually means date of birth!
DeleteChris
Thanks Chris for that reply to Unknown's question as it was something I was thinking about as well. Living in Australia, very difficult and expensive to get various copies unless really really needed via the NRS. One day might get a chance to visit Scotland. Thanks again for your weekly tips, loving them.
ReplyDeleteNo probs, glad it helps!
ReplyDeleteChris
I have obtained an extract of an entry in the 1939 National Register held by the Registrar General for Scotland for a close family member whose year of birth was in question. I can confirm the information provided is limited to only the named individual, their address at the time, their date of birth, marital staus and occupation. The extract is only available if the person concerned had died. If the person died outside Scotland then a death certificate must be provided. I found the process quite easy. However as I was unsure of the person's year of birth, I explained that on the form and gave the two possible alternatives together with the day and month of birth. The person was known by a pet name which was not the name on the birth or death certificates so I also mentioned this on the form as I expected the pet name to be the one used in 1939, which it was. The extract was issued without any problems and it solved a long-standing family mystery.
ReplyDeleteThe 1939 Register was used to create the first NHS register after the war, hence why it exists in a computerised format. The NRS (GROS) manages both it and the death register, hence why supplying a date of death is enough for an order (in Scotland), as they can simply look it up and corroborate between the two. When I used the Northern Ireland equivalent for my grandfather, who was born in Belgium to two Scottish parents, it contained his date of birth, as given by him as the informant. The only other document to list his date of birth was his death record, but an aunt had got this wrong upon regitering his death. Locating his 1939 entry gave me the right date, from which I was subsequently able to locate his birth record in Belgium. It certainly has its uses!
ReplyDeleteChris