THE 1921 Census which recorded nearly 38 million people in England and Wales provides some interesting information for genealogists researching families in post WWI Britain.
Originally the Census was due to be conducted on 24 April, but a planned national strike by miners, railway men and transport workers threatened to cripple the country and this would have skewed the census returns.
Prime Minister Lloyd George had called a state of emergency on 5 April and mobilised the Army Reserve.
The Census date was therefore moved to Sunday 19 June and this meant that many people were recorded on an early summer holiday in a hotels or visiting family.
Agatha Christie for example was recorded on holiday in Torquay.
The general strike was however called off on 15 April when leaders of the transport and rail unions refused to back the miners who were forced to take wage cuts.
This failure of the Triple Alliance of Unions was seen as a betrayal of the beleaguered miners and the day was dubbed Black Friday.
The post War era was a difficult labour market and many people, especially miners who refused pay cuts, were recorded as unemployed on the Census.
The 1921 record was more comprehensive than previous ones, due in part to increased literacy levels, which meant households could complete the record themselves.
The record gives details about where people worked, their ages in years and months, as well as for the first time if individuals were divorced.
Sadly the records show the impact of the war with 730 000 children listed with “father dead”.
The war had also skewed the gender proportions in society with 19.8 million females to 18.1 million males.
The other interesting statistic from the 1921 Census is that 1.2 million people were born elsewhere. They hailed mostly from Ireland and from areas of war torn Europe like Poland and France. There were even 22 990 South African born people recorded.
The 1921 census is important to genealogists because the 1931 census records for England and Wales were destroyed in a fire in 1942, and there was no census taken in 1941 because of WW2. We will have to wait until 2052 for the 1951 Census to be released due to the 100 year release rule.
Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland conduct their own censuses and the 1921 Scottish records are to be released by the end of this year. The 1921 Census was not taken in Ireland due to the Irish War of Independence and was conducted in 1926.
KinPAST can trace your family’s 1921 Census record for R500 per household. This service will provide you with a full image of the original record as well as other information about where the family lived and worked. Where possible the 1911 and 1901 record will also be included.
