The 1921 England & Wales Census is now online and available exclusively on FindMyPast! Why is this exciting? A new census record provides information such as who is still alive since the last census, new children in a household, a new marriage with children, and so much more. Besides this, the 1921 census provides unique information relative to previous census records.

This new census includes the age of each member of the household in both years and months. This can be very helpful for finding an exact birth date for an ancestor and lead to finding a birth record. If the exact birth date is already known it can help to confirm an identity.

In the “Marriage or Orphanhood” column, household members were given the option to put “Divorced,” when previously they could only put “Single,” “Married,” “Widower” or “Widowed.” For children under 15, they were able to indicate whether their parents were alive or not.

The “Employment” column distinguished whether or not a person was working for an employer, was an employer or was self-employed. The “Place of Work” column even asked for a specific work address.

In the final column, residents indicated how many children they had under the age of 16 with their ages, even if they were not living with the rest of the household. This information can lead to finding more children in a family than was previously known or to finding out that certain ancestors never had children.

Of course a census record, including this one, should not replace primary sources like birth, marriage and death records, but it can be very helpful in finding more information about an ancestor.

In case you’re wondering, there is a cost for viewing these census records. In addition to requiring a FindMyPast subscription (free partner access for church members), it costs $3.50 for a transcript and $4.90 for an original image. 

A benefit of the transcript option is that it provides the address of the household, which may not be on the original image. It also provides a historical map which shows the place of residence and local surroundings.

When conducting a search, the results include a person’s first and last name, birth year/place, and the parish, district and county of residence. Also, hovering the mouse over the icon for purchasing the original image will show the names of others in the household. Hopefully it’ll be enough information to distinguish your ancestor and make the right purchase.

Visit www.findmypast.com/1921-census to find out more about the newly accessible 1921 England & Wales Census and get started with your research!

Christy Pugh – Innovation/Communications – Granite Family History Center