March 2011 Archives

Last time I mentioned that I had sent a message via the Rootsweb list regarding Ann Griffiths' suggestion that we should all take copies of our completed Census From and save it for our descendants. Amongst the replies on the Clwyd list was one from Gwen, one of the regular contributors, which drew attention to the disaster that had befallen the 1931 Census Records. She reproduced a report which can be found on the following link:
http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=1931_Census#column-one

In Blog No. 52 I told of how over 70% of the WW1 Records had been destroyed by German bombing during WW2. The following report tells the sad story of how the 1931 Census Records were destroyed in December 1942 but this time not by enemy bombing but through a mystery fire. Here is the file:
"The file RG 20/109 contains the following letter from W A Derrick of the General Register Office to F T Stobart, Central National Registration Office, Southport dated 22 December 1942, commenting on the fate of the 1931 census.
You will regret to hear that in a fire last Saturday evening which gutted the Office of Works store containing our Census records at Hayes, the whole of the 1931 schedules, enumeration books, plans of division and miscellaneous material stored in cupboards etc were completely destroyed. Mr Farrow and I went down to inspect the remains yesterday and we are both satisfied that it would be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they think desirable.
The fire was not occasioned by enemy action and how it achieved such dimensions in a store in which special hydrants had been fitted and said to have been in charge of a fire guard of 6 paid watchers, is a mystery which will need investigation. It is hardly possible to imagine a more complete state of devastation than the scene presented to us in which it was impossible to see where some of the racks had stood and where the remains were nothing more than shapeless mounds of paper rubbish dragged outside the building by the firemen who tackled the fire and where even the least damaged sheets that were recognizable were charred to the depth of two or three inches on all edges.
The store must be regarded as a total loss and in the circumstances I shall be grateful if you will let me have a report - in duplicate as Mr Farrow would like a copy - describing briefly though comprehensively what effect the loss may be expected to have on the future operations of the Department. You will be able to indicate the contents of the cupboards and to say whether they included anything of a more permanent value than the 1931 tabulation sheets e.g. maps etc. It will also be useful to know the amount of Section 4 work in respect of 1931 for which you still receive demands and also the extent to which the 1931 records would still have been of use in connection with the next census notwithstanding the N.R. enumeration.
In view of this unfortunate event, it seems to us that reasonable precautions to safeguard existing records should be reviewed and taken where possible and it occurs to us that the duplicate blue and white plans of division prepared before the N.R. enumeration might well be separated and stored in different buildings if this is not the case at the present time. Please let me know how this matter stands and whether there would be any disadvantage in having the blue plans kept in the vaults here. Again there might be advantage in having the superseded maps preserved and stored away from Smedley or even in having the current map work carried out at Terra Nova, so that the maps and the enumeration books would not be exposed to the same risk.
Will you also let us know where the enumeration books and plans of division relating to the 1921 census are stored. The schedules, as you are aware, were damaged by water at Leonard Street and have since been dried out and are scattered over various parts of Somerset House; but no plans or enumeration books were brought from Leonard Street and it is assumed that they were stored elsewhere. Steps will have to be taken shortly for the racking and storing of the 1921 schedules for which purpose the volumes will have to be sorted to the order of the area numbers stencilled on the backs have you a record of the volumes from which the completeness of the series can be verified"

We can expect the 1921 Census records to be released in 2021 but there will no census records released in 2031. There was no Census in 1941 so the next release will be the 1951 Census in 2051. After 2021, family history enthusiasts will have a 30 year wait for the next Census records!

The "where born" question
I've now found, from Jennifer Cairns on the Glamorgan List, that the 1951 Census was the last where the "where born" question gave details giving the county and parish of birth. So this will be the last Census that will be of any real value to family history researchers. To make it worse, today's Census doesn't even allow us to record our second names. In my research I've found that knowledge of the second name has been invaluable in many of my searches. Regardless of the value for family history researchers I can't understand the stupidity of a census that does not record people's full names.

Photographs
I reported that there had been some technical problems that prevented me from putting up photos on the blog. I'm pleased that this problem has been solved and I've now managed to place the photo of the grave of my great, great grandfather's brother in Poultney, Vermont, on Blog No 53a. I'll start using photos again in the next blog. This weekend I'll be putting the finishing touches to my latest family history talk, the sixth in the series, which I deliver for the first time on Thursday evening.

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwynedd.fhs.org.uk
Meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 12 April (In English, first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Price: "Gardners, organists and a murderer"

Caernarfon, 31 Mawrth (In Welsh, last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Library, LÃŽn Pafiliwn: Hywel Roberts: "Chwalfa Yncl John South"

Dolgellau, 14 Ebrill (In Welsh, second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: W J Edwards: "Cyfaredd Cof"

Conwy, 11 April (In English, second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn: Members Evening

Llangefni, 21 April (In English, third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa:

Pwllheli, 15 Ebrill (In Wales, third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod: Meurig Jones: "O Edern i Lerpwl"

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk

The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd. The next meeting is as follows:

Saturday 9 April: at The Awelon Centre, School Road, Ruthin, LL15 1BN.
E.J.Thomas: "Churches and Family History"

Following my last blog I decided to use some of the Rootsweb lists to spread the word about Ann Griffiths' suggestion that people should make a copy of their census form in order to pass it down to their descendants. In this way they wouldn't have to wait until 2111 when it will be published. I'm pleased to say that there was an excellent response with people with many people writing to say that it was an excellent suggestion.

In previous years the Census Forms were delivered by hand to each household and the enumerator would then call back to collect them. The advantage of this system was that the enumerator could give advice to anyone who may have had difficulties in completing some of the questions. The disadvantage was the costs of employing enumerators. The 2011 Census Form arrived through the post a few days ago giving both the Welsh and English versions. The householder can then decide whether to complete the Welsh of the English version which overcomes one problem with the 2001 Census when the enumerator sometimes gave an English version to households who wanted a Welsh version. The Census Form is also available in 29 other languages from the census website.

We are given the responsibility of completing and returning the form by post or we can complete the form on line. If you decide to complete on line you will have an electronic version to keep for your descendants. It is a legal requirement to complete and return the Census Form and there is a fine if you don't.

I've had a look at the questions and they seem reasonable but the questions on work are going to give someone like me a bit of a difficulty. I've been self-employed, or "living on my wits", since 1994 and when I reached the normal retirement age I simply kept on working even though I was in receipt of pensions. This was because of my experience of unemployment in the early 1980s when I was in my forties. This was a horrific experience and the excellent Alan Bleasdale TV drama at that time, "Boys from the Blackstuff" summed up exactly how I felt as I desperately looked for work. This experience has given me a fear of being out of work and made me carry on even thought I no longer had a financial need to do so. With so many repeats on TV these days I can't understand why the "Boys from the Blackstuff" series hasn't been repeated during the past couple of years as we now seem to be repeating the nasty experiences of the early 1980s.

When I had cancer in 2008 I had to give up most of my contracts and I didn't do much whilst I was Mayor last year. I kept one small contract going but I've been thinking that I would not renew my Professional Indemnity Insurance this year. However, when offers of work came I found it impossible to refuse so I'll be renewing my PI Insurance again this year! But this occasional work whilst being in receipt of pensions does not make it easy to complete a questionnaire such as the Census Return!

The published censuses between 1841 and 1911 have been essential to those of us trying to trace our family history but I'm afraid that recent censuses will not be of much help to family history researchers in the future. The 1841 Census information on place of birth was whether born within the same county or not. From 1851 to 1911 the "where born" question gave information on County and Parish and this has been vital for all of us in helping to trace our ancestors. This year, however, we are only asked whether we were born in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland or elsewhere.

I remembered that this was also the case in 2001 and on the website of the Office for National Statistics I found a copy of the 1991 Census from and the "where born" question was the same. I couldn't find copies of the Census Forms for previous censuses so I wonder when the question of which parish people were born was dropped. This is an enormous loss for the family history researchers in the future. The 1991 census, for example, should be published in 2091. Imagine someone in 2091 trying to find a John Jones born in 1986 when the only information given in the census records is that he was born in Wales!

Gwynedd Family History Society, www.gwynedd.fhs.org.uk
Meetings for the next four weeks are:

Bangor, 12 April (In English, first Tuesday of each month) 7.00pm at the Quakers Meeting Hall, Dean Street: David Price: "Gardners, organists and a murderer"

Caernarfon, 31 Mawrth (In Welsh, last Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Library, LÃŽn Pafiliwn: Hywel Roberts: "Chwalfa Yncl John South"

Dolgellau, 14 Ebrill (In Welsh, second Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at the Royal Ship Hotel: W. J. Edwards: "Cyfaredd Cof"

Conwy, 14 March (In English, second Monday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Ebenezer, Abergele Road, Old Colwyn: Peter Brindley: "The Vicar, The Prince and the See"

Llangefni, 17 March (In English, third Thursday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Smyrna, Ffordd Glanhwfa: Peter Day: "Wreck of the Royal Yacht Mary"

Pwllheli, 18 Mawrth (In Wales, third Friday of each month) 7.00pm at Capel Seion, Lon Dywod: Noson Aelodau

Clwyd Family History Society, www.clwydfhs.org.uk

The meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month (except August) at 2.00 pm at locations that rotate within the former county of Clwyd. The next meeting is as follows:

Saturday 9 April: at The Awelon Centre, School Road, Ruthin, LL15 1BN.
Topic and speaker to be announced