I know that here in Scotland we are going to be absolutely beside ourselves with joy over the release of the Scottish Government Cabinet papers from 2006 tomorrow on ScotlandsPeople (!), but south of the border there is also the small matter of the release of the 1921 census, for Engand, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. In addition, there are many overseas records for the British armed forces (Army, RAF and Royal Navy), and details for those on merchant ships in English and Welsh waters. If your Scottish or Irish ancestors were down south, in any of the Crown Dependencies, or serving in a military or merchant navy capacity, this is going to be a potentially major release for your research.
Recorded on June 19th 1921, the records, which are held at the National Archives at Kew and which have been sealed for a hundred years, have now been digitised by FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk). The records will costs £2.50 each initially for a transcript, or £3.50 to see the actual image, but will undoubtedly eventually become a part of the subscription offerings of all the main genealogy records vendors. You can find more about the FindmyPast records at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census and details of what the record will include at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/help/articles/360009238618-what-information-does-the-1921-census-contain-
One thing to note is that this is a particularly big deal down south because the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed in a fire in Middlesex during the Second World War. With no census in 1941 because of the Second World War, the next English and Welsh census that will be released is from 1951, in 2052. (Obviously if I am still around at this point, which I fully intend to be, I'll blog about it then!).
Fortunately in Scotland the 1931 census still survives, and will be released in about a decade; we also have the 1926 census for the Republic of Ireland coming in the next few years, and the Northern Irish 1937 census should hopefully be released around the time when I retire!
The Scottish 1921 census also exists, but we still have a bit of a wait on that front before it goes online - the latest update from the NRS has stated that it will be released late in 2022.
Good hunting!
Chris
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
