The New 1939 Registry

[beejay]

The New 1939 Registry

The Government have released a Registry, compiled in 1939 of all the population - not a census like the 10-year one but similar. It was basically a head-count as war looked imminent. After the war this Registry was used as the basis for new 'NHS numbers register.

Anyone with 'Ancestry' membership will have access to this Registry.

[Wendyf]

Agreed, the 1939 Register is a very useful resource Bejay, it has been available on Find My Past for a few years now and fills in a big gap following the 1911 census. It has thrown up a few surprises for some people I have been helping with family research.

[Stanley]

I'd be interested to know what names the inhabitants of 38 Norris Avenue, Stockport were using if anyone had access.....

[Wendyf]

No sooner read than done....relevant page attached. Anyone still likely to be alive is blacked out.

TNA_R39_3941_3941I_011.jpg

[Stanley]

Lovely, thanks Wendy. Lots of names I recognise on there and I didn't know their occupations. Mother and Father passing themselves off as married of course. It must have been worrying for them to have to lie officially!
The deleted reference will be me, I suppose they know I am still alive.

[Wendyf]

There are two closed records at 38 Stanley, you can apply to have records opened. The register was used locally until the 1950s so if a woman got married in that period of time then her married name and sometimes date of marriage are noted.

[beejay]

Fantastic stuff, Wendyf

[beejay]

Is it available on 'My Heritage' site, my sister asks?

[Wendyf]

Is it available on 'My Heritage' site, my sister asks?

Not a site I have used but yes, I've just checked and it is available on My Heritage.

[beejay]

Nether have I, but my neighbour was asking. Thanks Wendyf.

[Stanley]

That's interesting Wendy but without knowing more about the register, difficult to draw any conclusions. Their illicit relationship was never revealed until after they died when I wrote my dad's life story. (An Australian Life. Lulu)
In terms of who was living there it was Leslie, whose real name was Leslie Graham MacDonald, Mary Bowker (nee Challenger), Bowker from a a prior marriage which was never terminated and their son Stanley (me) who was 3 years old and registered as Stanley Graham.
Complicated eh? (Oh and by the way, when we blitzed the family history we found that Father was married to a woman before he left Australia on joining the Anzacs) You need to get the book and read it!

[Wendyf]

There must be another child there as well as you? Definitely 2 closed records at that address.

[Wendyf]

I only commented on the marriages being noted on the register because it shows the long term use. Your then neighbour Yvonne Lawley married a Mr Coe, the date isnt given but I've just checked and it was 1955.

It's not that "they" know you are still alive, when the register was first published online in 2015 a 100 year rule from birth was applied, and since then records can be unlocked under 100 years if proof of death is provided.

[Stanley]

In that case it's a mystery Wendy. Ahh!!! I had forgotten, Sister Dorothy was born 13 months after me in 1937, so the two records will be me and her!

[Whyperion]

the official comments re the 1939 register imply that some records will remain closed even if a death is noted (its normally updated from a coroners return), though I have found near neighbours of mums whom have fairly recently died become visible within three months. On most genology sites beyond the paywall you will also find BT (GPO Telephones) Directories and Electorial Registers so so much for any kind of data protection for the living, some of us have been in the same house for 100 years plus around mums area.

IF you cannot find a person at the address where you expected, younger males particulary wont be around if they have embarked for war service to barracks or other theatre of war, their military dog tag would be expected to identify them rather than the (Home Office into NHS? ) 1939 record numbering.
I am not sure but I think the married name atop maiden names may have continued beyond the date you mention wendy, but it might be inconsistent.

I have also seen addresses at the back of area booklets or sheets where an address has been missed, some compliers would record where a property was vacant, or damaged or demolished, and some would put in commercial premises even where there was no permanent resident as a note, others would not (I dont think they were supposed to ). Odd residences would include Caravans (we had travellers showmen and road workers bases around the area ), Ships and Boats, Jails , Workhouses/ Boarding Schools / Hospitals/Sanatoriums. I presume regular rough sleepers would also be noted if the complier had local knowledge.

[Wendyf]

Thanks for that Whyperion, I was wondering how bombed areas were noted on the register, not something I have come across.
No point in having trade or phone directories that are hidden for 100 years! You can opt out of having your details published on the electoral register now.