Hi there,
I was just wondering why some people's records on the 1939 census were closed. I found my grandmother but my grandfather's record was closed. He died later in 2001. Don't know if that makes a difference.
Thank you in advance.
Vicky
The first reason which may not seem important to you but is actually very important is because the 1939 National Registration was not a census.
If it had been it would not be released until 2040!
Why is that important; a census records every person in a house on census night the 1939 National Registration misses out various groups of people. (If your grandfather had joined the forces prior to the 1939 Registration being taken he would not appear on it.)
Do not automatically assume that a redacted record above or below an open record is a family relation they often are but they may not be.
Do not automatically assume that records of people born over 100 years ago will be open, they may not be, that depends on their birthdate being accurately recorded on the 1939 Registration.
Do not automatically assume that records of people who died after 1939 will be open, if they died abroad or if they died prior to 1948 or for some reason the NHS was not informed of there death the record may still be redacted.
Do not automatically assume that all of a family will be recorded at the same adress families were spilt up at that time for many reasons, evacuation, work, illness etc.
Finally I would suggest that anyone searching the 1939 National Registration work on the less is more principle. By that I mean use as little information as possible to search (forename lastname and year of birth) at first and only add more information if too many results are shown.
Cheers
Guy
