1911 Census

[RJ_Paton]

Today it was announced by the Scottish Government that the 1911 census will NOT be released until 2011. This despite the release of the same census in England and Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7825661.stm

[Gadget]

Ironic isn't it, since this is the Year of the Homecoming - supported and funded by the Scottish Administration:

http://www.homecomingscotland2009.com/default.html
and

http://www.homecomingscotland2009.com/what-is-homecoming-scotland/ancestry/default.html


Gadget

[RJ_Paton]

A further news release confirmed that the 1911 census will not be considered for release until 27th March 2011 at which point a 100 year period will have passed. Although the 1911 Census was not covered by the 1920 Census Act the Registrar General has ruled that it is covered by the 2002 Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act - which imposed a 100 year confidentiality clause on personal Census data

[Gadget]

Strange!

Didn't Guy challenge the initial E & W ruling under the equivalent F of Inf Act?

Maybe he should be asked to challenge the Scottish ruling.


Gadget

[RJ_Paton]

Strange!

Didn't Guy challenge the initial E & W ruling under the equivalent F of Inf Act?

Maybe he should be asked to challenge the Scottish ruling.


Gadget

The Scottish version of the FoI Act specifically mentions Census information or any similar information gathered or derived from such information as defined by the 1910 Census Act and/or as defined by the 1920 Census Act and gives it full exemption status - I'm not sure about the English version.

[chrispaton]

Today it was announced by the Scottish Government that the 1911 census will NOT be released until 2011. This despite the release of the same census in England and Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7825661.stm

GRO Scotland has been responsible for the census since 1861, and as such it is covered by different legislation to that down south. The FOI Act up here specifically stipulated that the Scottish 1911 census would not be released early - the rule on the southern release was successfully challenged by a gent called Guy Etchells, but even then, these cesuses are not complete, which means that medical information has been removed, which will be released in two years time.

It will be interesting to see if the census is re-released to make all information available, and whether people will have to pay £3 odd again to see what they can't just now.

Chris

[RJ_Paton]

Guy is a member on here, it would be interesting to get his viewpoint.

I think the primary sticking point is that the FoI (Scotland) Act 2002 does specifically exempt census data of any kind (Section 38) and although it does not specifically mention a 100 year closure rule the draftees of the legislation appear to have covered this by incorporating any data obtained under the 1910 & 1920 Census Acts - I'm not sure but it may have been the 1920 Act which introduced the 100 year rule.

[Gadget]

It was certainly the 1920 Act that introduced the 100 year rule in E & W and the 1921 one will not be out until 2022 because if it.

[chrispaton]

To be honest, I think I am one of the few who is happy to wait for Scotland 1911 to go online. There's a real demand in the last couple of years for everything to be released, and by yesterday, and there appears to be no stop - 1911 Ireland has/is being released, now there is agitation for the 1926 census in the Irish Republic, and so on. I quite like the idea of having something new come along every couple of years or so! The 20th C is well covered by other records, I think earlier records are a bigger priority myself, not least of which being dissenter births and marriages, and kirk session material.

My bigger concern is actually on pricing. FindmyPast and ScotlandsPeople are both owned by brightsolid. There have been arguments about the need for 1911 England and Wales to be pricier (over £3 each per image) due to the fast turnaround following Guy's successful challenge, but there will be hell to pay if they use this as a precedent for the release of the Scottish 1911 census!

Chris