Thank you Nick 29 for your comments. If as you say the 1911 census details were acquired by Brightsolid would you be able to tell me on what basis this transaction was conducted. Were other companies invited to tender?
Yes, The contract was put out for tender.
Did National Archives receive payment for our records, if so how much? Why couldn’t National Archives do the transcriptions knowing it would be guaranteed to provide more than adequate financial returns? If it was beyond their expertise, which I doubt, could they not have employed a third party to do it for them?
That is exactly what they did by putting the contract out for tender
At a time of dire economic times I would have thought a little bit of extra revenue would have been appreciated. It’s just the idea of some commercial enterprise acquiring public information and then charging us for the use of it that annoys me. Obviously they want to capitalize on their investment but to make it a pay as you view facility only is a real killer for those like me who would want to research a couple of hundred individuals and others in Scotland where a similar situation exists.
If you are so bothered about it why not take a trip to the National Archives (Kew) there you can view the census free of charge.
You only have to pay when using the online facilities paid for by the massive investment of bright
solid.
If you wish to use the census in the comfort of your home then it is only right you pay for that privilege.
I was quite clear in my earlier posting that the 100 year rule was only honorary but is this the only census that has been released in less than 100 years? Why?
Sorry but you are wrong.
Only six out of the 15 pre-1910 United Kingdom censuses were closed for 100 years. The details of nine out of 15 were released after less than 90 years. The average closure period for censuses in Britain is 80 years.
Given that the release of returns after 50 to 80 years was the practice in the first half of the last century, that no confidentiality time period was given on the 1911 census and that the Lord Chancellor's Instrument No. 12 of 1966 was 55 years away at that point, I would be very surprised if anyone who participated in that census really believed that their return would be held for exactly 100 years and not a day less.
Cheers
Guy