1926 N.Ireland cenus lost

[ards g]

Why are we the only place in british isles to destroy cenus  papers did officals not learn by their mistakes in the destruction of previous cenus. where do we go now to fill the gap will  voter registration records be available?

[KGarrad]

Just so you don't feel left out, the 1931 England & Wales census was destroyed by fire!

[ards g]

Just a thought surely westminister as sovereign government should have a copy of n,ireland 1926 cenus

[gaffy]

In a way, this wasn't a new story, PRONI and NISRA just went away to recheck what they already suspected, to see if there was old correspondence that might throw more light on its destruction.

So we have now had confirmed that 1926 Northern Ireland records are definitely gone. There was no 1931 census of Northern Ireland and the next one in 1937 was limited in terms of some information being omitted (eg. occupation).  There was no 1941 census of Northern Ireland.

1939 National Registration information (name, sex, age, marital status, military membership) is held by PRONI and can be released under FOI, but you have to be able to provide an exact address  and demonstrate that the person you're seeking is deceased.  The next full census of Northern Ireland was in 1951.

One can only hope that the normal 100 year rule will be waived and that we won't have to wait until 2038 for the 1937 census.

On top of all that happened to the 19th century all-Ireland census material, what a tragedy!