Genealogy Chat

I agree with the 100 year rule, I have got 2 rellies that are still living at the same address that they were born at in 1908 and 1910 so i think that the rule is a good one, and people should respect the law and stop being selfish, or why do we not agree to release all the census's including the last one which will have all our details. Roy

Roy, read the thread please. We do respect the law, the one you are talking about doesn't exist. OC it doesn't help any discussion if you make things up, the word 'never' was not used. If it was then you shouldn't access any census. The petition is about releasing censuses early, if you don't agree with it start you own petition in opposition to that. Bob

Hi just signed, if we get the 1911 census early that would be great rick

Bob, I have read the thread and to me as it say's 1911, 1921 & 1931 Census Please sign the e-petition to get the census information released early. This is asking for people to sign the petition to get 1911, 1921 & 1931 Census released early or am i reading this with differenet eyes to what i normaly use, I stand by my earlier post which said, I agree with the 100 year rule, I have got 2 rellies that are still living at the same address that they were born at in 1908 and 1910 so i think that the rule is a good one, and people should respect the law and stop being selfish. Roy

I think the 1911 census should be available the info you get on electorial roll is almost the same ....age name and address

If you read Horatia's thread last week you will know that the 1911 is being rolled out from 1909. Thats only 2 years time. What do you expect instant results?? These things have to be digitised and transcribed, or do you want to scroll through the whole of England and Wales to find your rellie. Margaret

Hard to believe that some are getting so uptight about this yet again. I don't think I would have the nerve to submit a petition for the early release of such material on the basis that all I wanted it for was to pursue my interest in family history! It will all be released in the fullness of time. In the meantime take up another hobby. By the release of the 1921 census, which I would find useful, I might well be dead. So? Asking for the release of a non-existent English census says it all. Interesting to note that the 1911 census for one part of the UK - Northern Ireland - has been accessible for some time, but not in the UK! And also nice to see overdue recognition that the 1931 Scottish census was not destroyed. Denis Denis

Bob You are a worse nitpicker than me - the words used were 'Information given in this census will remain confidential'. The inference and the intention was understood by Joe Soap to mean 'never'. The fact that the wording did not make this crystal clear is a useful get-out clause for all those instant family historians who want it all, and want it today. I don't have any intention of starting any petition, let alone one which asks for the 1931 census to be held back until its due date - I wouldn't want to make myself look so stupid! I am entitled to express my opinion on the early release of censuses - we all, hopefully, learn through an exchange of ideas, and I for one have changed my mind on a number of subjects through discussions like these. If it makes only one or two people look at the facts before they sign a petition then that cant be a bad thing - actions should always be informed actions, not knee-jerk-jump-on-the-bandwagon actions. And by the way - Suffragettes did not get the vote by starting a petition! If you want the Government to find extra money for a useful project, then why not petition them to get a move on with the DOVE project, which will make the instant downloading of historical bmd certs possible - far more use in my opinion, than releasing censuses which don't exist. OC

There have been so many patitions in the last 5 years to get the 1911 census early that no-one in government takes any notice any more. Besides, most if it will be available in 2 years and the rest of it will be out in 2012. On top of that even if the government changed it's mind tomorrow we wouldn't have it much earlier by the time it's scanned and indexed, which could take about 5 years. By all means try to get the 1921 census and later ones early but try to remember that it will still take around 5 years to index and scan so the earliest you'll get it is 2016. And please consider that people are living longer and may not want you knowing things that they want to forget about. I've dug up some things doing genealogy that my family would rather not know such as shot gun weddings and children who died in infancy. There are alot of members on here who have relatives who are over 100, how do you think their relatives would feel if they found out that they weren't who they thought they were? Although I would love to have the 1921 census to find certain ancestors I know that I must wait and be patiant.