1921 census release

[peter]

as far as I can tell the ship missed the census

If it arrived the next day it should be on the census. I can only suggest browsing the vessel names and choosing different filters.

However if it arrived before Census Night it's possible nobody was on board.

 

[A. Muse]

However if it arrived before Census Night it's possible nobody was on board.

Highly unlikely that any ship in the London Docks would be left with no crew on board. Crew wold be required for supervising unloading/loading and general safety and security of the ship, also probably keeping at least a donkey boiler fired up for auxiliary uses. It is also probable that some of the crew were not in their home port, and would not want (or could not afford) to travel the length of the country to get home for 2 or 3 days.

In the 1950's my father was working in the London Docks repairing electrical equipment on ships (items such as winches and refrigeration equipment) he spent at least one night sleeping on a ship so that the Chief Electrician could go on leave. He said it was because the master was a 'Steam' man who didn't fully trust electricity and needed someone on board for emergencies.

 

[canadianbeth]

I have a question about the cost for an image. The newsletter states it is 3.50 in English pounds; when I clicked on one and paid it said $4.41, yet my cc statement now says $5.79. I assumed that the $4.41 was Canadian funds; do they use U.S. ones instead? I think I will be waiting in future for the census to become free, at least for FMP. I was really only interested in where my Dad was in 1921; the only other direct ancestors still living then were the ones who left my grandmother in a workhouse while they went on to have more children and ignored her.

 

[peter]

I assumed that the $4.41 was Canadian funds; do they use U.S. ones instead?

Findmypast don't have a Canadian site, but they do have a US site which uses US dollars. Is that the site you were logged into?

In general it's easy to find out exchange rates at sites like XE.com - they currently show GBP3.50 = CAD5.997 = USD4.797 so you chose a good time to make your purchase.

 

[canadianbeth]

I was logged into the uk site. When I generally log on to FMP it is the .com site but I actually went through an e-mail from them to access the census and it took me to the uk site. When I saw the $4.41 and knew the English price was 3.50, I figured that was the exchange rate, not considering that it was U.S. $.

The exchange rate fluctuates so much; the third image I purchased, which turned out to be a duplicate of the second, shows as just $5.60 on my cc statement, so less than the first two of $5.79.

 

[Pauline]

Of course, given his age, it could also have been a workhouse.

What is the address or name given for the institution? Was it Styal Cottage Homes?

 

[peter]

I actually went through an e-mail from them to access the census and it took me to the uk site

Note that if you want to support LostCousins you'll need to click my links, not somebody else's - they'll take you to the same place.

 

[canadianbeth]

What is the address or name given for the institution? Was it Styal Cottage Homes?

Yes, it does say Styal Cottage Homes, not written but looks as though it was stamped. And underneath written what looks like Styal Handforth Cheshire.

They have changed the "extras" a bit, now it says address, whereas previously it said front. And I see something called Plans of Divison, which I had missed earlier, or it was not there. On that page, the reference number looks like 11 but has a little dash through it, so it could be a 1, which means workhouse. Eleven means convalescent home and I doubt there were 700 boys in one of those (estimated number of inmates). A workhouse would have 700 boys in it at one time?

So sometime between the 1921 census and Nov 1924 he went to the National Sea Training Homes, also in Cheshire. In July 1924 he would have been 16; he might have gone there then.

 

[Pauline]

Yes, it does say Styal Cottage Homes,

Have you googled this, as there is information about the place online which is quite informative? I think there may be admission registers at the archives in Manchester which may tell you more about when he was admitted and so on.

 

[At home in NZ]

Highly unlikely that any ship in the London Docks would be left with no crew on board. Crew wold be required for supervising unloading/loading and general safety and security of the ship, also probably keeping at least a donkey boiler fired up for auxiliary uses. It is also probable that some of the crew were not in their home port, and would not want (or could not afford) to travel the length of the country to get home for 2 or 3 days.

In the 1950's my father was working in the London Docks repairing electrical equipment on ships (items such as winches and refrigeration equipment) he spent at least one night sleeping on a ship so that the Chief Electrician could go on leave. He said it was because the master was a 'Steam' man who didn't fully trust electricity and needed someone on board for emergencies.

Try Lloyd's List, it is a daily publication that details ships' movements. I googled it but hesitate to give you a link as there are several and it's up to you which one you choose.

BTW, my dad was a ship's engineer in the days of steam. I loved looking at the engine room. Whenever we went on the Woolwich ferry we used to go straight to where we could see the pistons working and the fireman stoking. I have good memories of what the London Docks looked like in the 1950's, such an interesting area and a shame the ships are all gone.

 

[Heather]

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

On the FMP 1921 advanced search page, if you scroll down to the bottom you will see "search tips" under this heading is a section for "shipping" containing quite a lot of information that you may find interesting.

 

[A. Muse]

Many thanks for that Heather.
If all else fails...........read the words!

 

[RogerL]

As recommended by Peter I am recording the PN and SN for images that I download. However, my grandmother was in an Isolation Hospital (not aware of this before!) and the SN has not been added in the top right corner. Does anyone know where else it might be found, please?

 

[RogerL]

Has anyone tried printing downloaded images from the 1921 census? We're finding it doesn't work very well but are not sure why.

I have printed a couple from the website successfully but then chose to download images and crop the black around the edge to save ink. I could also add the TNA reference (RG15 followed by the PN and SN).

 

[peter]

However, my grandmother was in an Isolation Hospital (not aware of this before!) and the SN has not been added in the top right corner. Does anyone know where else it might be found, please?

There are no Schedule Numbers for institutions.

I have printed a couple from the website successfully but then chose to download images and crop the black around the edge to save ink. I could also add the TNA reference (RG15 followed by the PN and SN).

It's also an opportunity to adjust the brightness and contrast - in some cases the ink doesn't stand out from the background.

 

[RogerL]

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.

Thank you for sharing this very helpful tip

 

[peter]

Thank you for sharing this very helpful tip

I tested this out on the first morning, and discovered that how well it works depends on the size of the household, how common the names are, and what you already know about them. The smaller the household the better it works, but bear in mind that Findmypast give you three names anyway.

You won't always find out the full names of the household members because middle names are often omitted - in fact they seem to be less likely to be shown than in 1911. And whilst in most cases you will find out the year of birth the schedule gives the age in years and months, which is more useful if you're trying to find an entry in the birth indexes.

There's also the danger that you might inadvertently include someone in another household if you're not careful as the 'Other household member' boxes do NOT match on both forename and surname, only on one or the other.

Because of all these drawbacks I decided not to suggest this approach in the newsletter.

Perhaps the most reliable way to find out who is in a household is when you know their address - then you can find out the schedule number from the address search and use this as an additional field in a person search.

 

[Helen7]

Because of all these drawbacks I decided not to suggest this approach in the newsletter.

I agree with the potential drawbacks you mention - and when I said full names I meant the full name as it appears on the schedule (which is given in the search results, complete with middle name if in the schedule)) - but I've found it a very useful approach where I don't know the address, which is the case most of the time for me. And as I said in the last paragraph of my original post, of course the schedule is preferable as it gives you more information, but at a price.

 

[peter]

I've found it a very useful approach where I don't know the address, which is the case most of the time for me

I've been surprised how many families were still living in the same house as in 1911 - people don't seem to have been as mobile as they were in previous decades. This could, of course, be the result of the war.

 

[Helen7]

I've been surprised how many families were still living in the same house as in 1911 - people don't seem to have been as mobile as they were in previous decades.

Of the 5 household schedules I've purchased so far, none of the families are living at the same address as in 1911. My relatives must have been more mobile than yours.