100 Year Rule and 1939 Register

[Just Martin]

I wonder if anyone else has come across this kind of situation. I have an aunt I'm trying to trace. She was born in 1909 in Galway, but the family came over to Dover in 1921 and then Oxford a couple of years later.

If I look at the 1939 register, I have my grandfather (1881-1973), his wife (1903-2003) and my father (1913-2007). There is one closed record, which I strongly suspect is my missing aunt. But, why is it closed?

FindMyPast say that the records are subject to the 100 year rule unless proof of death is supplied. They also say that the closed records were for people who were still living in 1991. It's not clear whether that's 100 years previous to 1991 or a rolling century. I didn't have to apply for the other records to be opened.

I did try to use the form to apply to have the record opened, but the only form they have is the one that requires a copy of the death certificate. There doesn't seem to be an easy way of contacting support at FindMyPast

 

[peter]

Records are closed if the individual was born less than 100 years go and their death hasn't been noted. See my 1939 Special Newsletter for all you need to know.

Sometimes birth years are misread, although it seems unlikely in this case. A lot of people weren't where you would expect them to be in 1939 - there was a war on.

 

[PhilGee]

Of possible interest, I have just received an e-mail from FMP which includes:

"1939 Register
Discover the power of the 1939 Register, with the addition of over 117,000 previously-redacted records."

 

[Just Martin]

Of possible interest, I have just received an e-mail from FMP which includes:

"1939 Register
Discover the power of the 1939 Register, with the addition of over 117,000 previously-redacted records."

That was the trigger

 

[peter]

"1939 Register
Discover the power of the 1939 Register, with the addition of over 117,000 previously-redacted records."

There have been many such releases, and there will be many more - when the 1939 Register was first published the record for anyone born between 1915 and 1939 was redacted unless their death had been recorded in the register prior to the computerisation of the NHS index. My mother died in 1976 but her record was closed at launch.

 

[Mitch_in_Notts]

My Father(born 1938) has always been visible on the 1939 Register - he is still alive. A maternal Aunt was made visible about 5 years ago but only died 3 years ago. One of her Brothers remains closed in the latest update, despite dying in 2014. It all seems rather hit and missed.

 

[peter]

My Father(born 1938) has always been visible on the 1939 Register - he is still alive. A maternal Aunt was made visible about 5 years ago but only died 3 years ago. One of her Brothers remains closed in the latest update, despite dying in 2014. It all seems rather hit and missed.

It may be that your father's birth year was misread - '38' can often look like '88'. That's certainly what happened to my aunt - '16' looked like '76'.

Matching death entries to the register is indeed very hit-and-miss, so a few lucky people get to see their own entry. We have to be grateful that we can see the 1939 Register at all - it was originally claimed that the 1920 Census Act applied, as you can see here.

 

[jorghes]

Perhaps your aunt emigrated?

My grandmother's record on the 1939 register was meant to be open (1915-1965) but she died in Adelaide, South Australia. While you can find her in the search, her record on the actual register is blacked out [It's particularly difficult to get death records from South Australia for some reason, so I haven't explored getting her record opened, though it should be, as if she was alive she would be a few weeks short of her 107th birthday!]

So this means on FindMyPast you can find my grandmother but not her younger sister (1929-2012) but on Ancestry's version you can find her younger sister, but not my grandmother.

It is to be noted that my grandmother was the only one of her immediate family to emigrate. And to make matters more confusing, my grandfather, who also emigrated and died in 1988, is open on the 1939 Register, but then he was born in 1909.

 

[peter]

Perhaps your aunt emigrated?

Or went back to Ireland?

Have you found her in the electoral registers? That would be a good way of establishing whether she was still living with her parents in the 1930s.

 

[Just Martin]

Or went back to Ireland?

Have you found her in the electoral registers? That would be a good way of establishing whether she was still living with her parents in the 1930s.

I've found the link to tech support for FindMyPast, so I'll see what they say, if anything. If it's really someone born after 1922 living there, that would be even more intriguing.

The family story is that she became a nun, left the convent, came back home and then ran away to London where she was killed in the blitz. However, there's even more conjecture in that particular tale than most of my family's stories (and that's saying something). Good thought on the electoral rolls, I'll try some searching and see if I can get their via address

 

[peter]

I've found the link to tech support for FindMyPast

It's not a technical problem, but they might be able to give you some helpful advice.

 

[At home in NZ]

I've found the link to tech support for FindMyPast, so I'll see what they say, if anything. If it's really someone born after 1922 living there, that would be even more intriguing.

The family story is that she became a nun, left the convent, came back home and then ran away to London where she was killed in the blitz. However, there's even more conjecture in that particular tale than most of my family's stories (and that's saying something). Good thought on the electoral rolls, I'll try some searching and see if I can get their via address

If she was killed in the blitz she may appear in the records of the Civilian War Dead, of which there are a few, Google will show you.