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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Jimvin on Sunday 26 April 20 11:42 BST (UK)
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The 1939 register was, I thought, to be taken on National Registration day, 29th September 1939, and yet looking up boarders in a school, I have discovered that their 1939 register to be dated 16th September 1939. It seems they weren't too rigid about the date, or was it different for schools? Anyone know the reason why this was earlier?
James
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I have not seen that before could you show the page or part of the page.
It may be that is a date put in by someone at the school to show when the schedules were received.
Cheers
Guy
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I don't think it could have been completed as early as the 16th. Can you post a link to the page in question?
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I am having a problem attaching...
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try this link https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=tna%2fr39%2f1785%2f1785d%2f001
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Well it does say the 16th September. Presumably just for that particular area with a total of males and females noted at the top right of the page.
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I suspect it is like nowadays with the census delivered before hand and the instructions being to fill it in on 29th. As nowadays people don't always follow instructions. ::) (It comes up much quicker on Ancestry than findmypast)
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Perhaps it was just someone getting enthusiastic and completing it at the start of the school term.
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65,000 enumerators across the country delivered forms ahead of the chosen day. On 29 September 1939, householders were required to record details on the registration forms. On the following Sunday and Monday the enumerators visited every householder, checked the form and there and then issued a completed identity card for each of the residents. All cards at this time were the same brown/buff colour.
From -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939)
Regards
Chas
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According to https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13353
"civilian households were enumerated on 29 September 1939 to compile a National Register."
Perhaps boarding schools were enumerated earlier, in anticipation of being evacuated..
Stan
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For a definitive answer, I would suggest this thread needs input from Mean_genie.
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Of course he could have just made a mistake in writing the date. The Transcript book DISM before that one, DISN, is dated 16th October, and the one after 19th October.
Stan
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Of course he could have just made a mistake in writing the date. The Transcript book DISM before that one, DISN, is dated 16th October, and the one after 19th October.
That seems a likely explanation!
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Maybe they couldn't be bothered to complete a new one on 29th Sept,if they'd only just done one as the new school year started on 16th Sept,and they knew the names would all be the same as then.
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try this link https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/browse?id=tna%2fr39%2f1785%2f1785d%2f001
That allows me to make an educated guess.
That date is supposed to be the date the enumerator had completed the enumeration (most give a date in October) I suspect your enumerator just entered the date he received it
Cheers
Guy
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The 1939 register was, I thought, to be taken on National Registration day, 29th September 1939, and yet looking up boarders in a school, I have discovered that their 1939 register to be dated 16th September 1939. It seems they weren't too rigid about the date, or was it different for schools? Anyone know the reason why this was earlier?
James
The date on the front of the Transcript Book is not the date when the registration was taken. It is the date when the enumerator filled in the Transcript Book from the National Registration schedule filled in by the householder and collected on the 29th September. The dates on the other Transcript Books are about two weeks after the 29th September.
You can see the enumerators instructions and other forms at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/world-records/full-list-of-united-kingdom-records/census-land-and-surveys/1939-register-original-forms
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These are the instructions for institutions including residential schools or colleges. As you see it says all persons who spent the night of National Registration Day in this Institution.
Stan
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The consensus seems to be a mistake by the enumerator, which makes sense to me. I've looked at a lot of Transcript Book covers to see the dates (don't judge me ::) ), and this is the first I've seen pre-dating Sep 29.
There's no particular significance in the fact that it's a boarding school. The ED includes the returns for 4 schools and a hospital. Very large institutions were sometimes EDs in their own right, with an officer of the institution acting as the enumerator, but this book covers 5 separate institutions, so it was just a 'regular' enumerator.