1921 UK Census

[Alexander Bisset]

As most people will know the 1921 census is due to be released in 2 years time, so most folks here will likely be online scouring it’s contents and cursing the site crashing due to overl0ading.

The question I have is I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of when the contract will be awarded or if it’s already awarded and to which company. I may have missed the post in a newsletter so sorry if I did but perhaps someone can enlighten me.

 

[peter]

I made enquiries recently and as far as I can ascertain there has been a delay in the contracting process for the England & Wales census. I presume that ScotlandsPeople will continue to have a monopoly of the Scottish census; there was no Ireland census in 1921.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Thanks Peter. Am I right in recalling that the 1911 census contract had been awarded by Jan 2009 and so we are behind schedule for release in 2022?

 

[peter]

Thanks Peter. Am I right in recalling that the 1911 census contract had been awarded by Jan 2009 and so we are behind schedule for release in 2022?

We're behind the original schedule, see this newsletter article. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the release will be delayed - the household schedules weren't retained so we'll see the enumerators' schedules, as we do from 1841-1901, which means that there are far fewer documents to be scanned and transcribed than for 1911.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Thanks Peter I felt sure I'd seen it in a newsletter article but I couldn't find it. Given the contract will have been awarded the details should be available as to whom it was awarded to shouldn't they? I know this would be the case in Scotland I'm not sure if the weaker Freedom of Information laws in England would cover government contracts they definitely do in Scotland.

 

[peter]

Thanks Peter I felt sure I'd seen it in a newsletter article but I couldn't find it. Given the contract will have been awarded the details should be available as to whom it was awarded to shouldn't they? I know this would be the case in Scotland I'm not sure if the weaker Freedom of Information laws in England would cover government contracts they definitely do in Scotland.

But that's just it, the contract hasn't been awarded yet - according to my information.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Ah ok I thought it had been awarded but was perhaps not announced. Thanks for the update.

 

[malvolio63]

We're behind the original schedule, see this newsletter article. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the release will be delayed - the household schedules weren't retained so we'll see the enumerators' schedules, as we do from 1841-1901, which means that there are far fewer documents to be scanned and transcribed than for 1911.

Disappointing to hear that we won't have the householders schedules. I did ask that question to a representative of the TNA at one of the WDYTYA shows and was told that they had survived. Never mind.

 

[peter]

Disappointing to hear that we won't have the householders schedules. I did ask that question to a representative of the TNA at one of the WDYTYA shows and was told that they had survived. Never mind.

I'm going on the TNA catalogue description for RG15, which refers to enumerators' summaries of household returns.

 

[emjay]

Thank goodness for the 1939 Register then! So the much anticipated 1921 census release could well be a great disappointment......

 

[peter]

Thank goodness for the 1939 Register then! So the much anticipated 1921 census release could well be a great disappointment......

The information in the summary books should be the same as on the form - you just don't get to see your relatives' handwriting, or their mistakes.

Also, there was no fertility census in 1921.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

I noted there were extra questions and some questions (such as Peter highlights the fertility census) were excluded. You can see some details here.