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how do you connect to up to date census ie since 1948?

The 1911 census is the latest UK census currently publicly available. In the UK there is a 100year closure rule on census returns which means that it is unlikely that the 1951 census will be available until 2051. (There was not a census in 1941 due to WW2).

There are however many different ways to trace people such as Birth, Marriage, Death certificates, Electoral registers, Immigration records.

Since 1911 there has been a census in 1921 1931 (destroyed during ww2, though not by the Luftwaffe), 1951, 1961, 1971, 1976 (10%), 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011. Only the data about individuals is withheld for 100 years.

The aggregated data for all of these census is publicly available although if you want to work with the raw data you need to something like SPSS to make full use. The historical census provides a lot of data which is useful up to the present day eg for health. The smallest aggregated unit is the "Enumeration District". Sometimes where population density is low several EDs are are put together so as to preserve anonymity.

The anonymous aggregated data will tell you a lot about the social makeup of a small locality and cross reference with other data can be very illuminating.

The 1921 census may become available online in 2012 depending on whether there is any money to be made from digitising it. After that nothing new until 2051 (!).

"The 1921 census may become available online in 2012 " - no, not this year :)

sorry 2021 these typos will rule the world one day
- they already rule A level and undergraduate history lol

Here's another typo the 1921 census will be released in 2022 :-P :-D

The ruling by the Information Commissioner that resulted in the 1911 census being opened early does not apply to the 1921 census because, unlike the 1911 census, the 1921 census was conducted under the 1920 Census Act, which is still in force and which contains a statutory prohibition on disclosure.

The stated government position from the ONS is "its intention to release the entirety of the 1921 census returns in 2022, in accordance with the non-statutory '100 year rule' which was adopted to reflect this undertaking of confidentiality".


http://www.1911census.org.uk/1921.htm

Roy :-D

The Census Act 1920 has been updated by The Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991. Remember that is British constitutional law that no government can bind its successors. Any law can be changed or repealed by a vote in Parliament.

HMG has taken powers re the 1920 census to act as it sees fit by Order in Council especially in regard to release. It is not certain that the Northern Ireland census will be released but given the changed reality since 1991 I guess it will be.

2021/2022 ? Anybody's guess. Does it matter ? Ay did not finish their poor quality transcription of the 1911 census until way into this year and it did not seem to hurt their biz much. OTOH the early adopters did not make a fortune either.

Is anybody aware if it has already been recorded to fiche or will any FH outfit have to start with the original paperwork ?

I feel it is a moot point whether anybody can really make a buck out of it. Ay with their tame Chinese trans company is best placed to give it a go. Maybe if the €uro crashes they will get it done in Greece. Or maybe in the UK for free using work experience / HMP residents etc ... A new experience for G4S? Otherwise it will be TheVault and FreeBMD and we'll all have to lend a hand. At least by 1920 handwriting was legible and dare I say it rather better than today.