Author Topic: 1939 census again and finding people in villages  (Read 1590 times)

Offline dawnsh

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1939 census again and finding people in villages
« on: Tuesday 10 November 15 22:33 GMT (UK) »
Having been at TNA today looking for my own families and some of yours, I’ve got some thoughts which may help your searches based on my own findings or partially explain why you can’t find people where you thought they might be.
(This isn’t necessarily the fault of FindMyPast or TNA)

The first example is John Nobes born 1880, he can be found on the 1911 census at Mill Street, Steventon, Abingdon RD with wife Florence and children.

In 1939 he is in Abingdon RD. There is no mention of Steventon on the preview or transcription, but he is still at the same address.
http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/locked?id=tna%2fr39%2f2063%2f2063a%2f014%2f43

I looked at the image and found that the page he features on has not had its’ page header cropped off so Steventon and district number 117 can be seen.

District number 117 is shown on the 1911 census.

My point here is that if you are looking for a specific address you may need to ignore the place name and concentrate on the Registration district instead.
If you have a subscription and can find and look at that address in 1911 regardless of who was living there, you might get a few clues for 1939.

If you don’t know which district, then this link may be useful.

https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/places/regindex2-3.pdf
(link updated 9 Nov 2018)

Then I looked for Vera Nobes, his daughter, (mistranscribed at Noibes) but recorded as Chandler as that was her later married surname

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/locked?id=tna%2fr39%2f2156%2f2156e%2f002%2f03

the issue here is that the image has been cropped so you can’t see the header, Vera is at Old Lands Cottage in the village of Whaddon but the cottage doesn’t have a street name and Whaddon (in the Winslow RD) doesn’t show anywhere just as Steventon above.

If you look at all the 1939 addresses in Winslow RD, her ‘cottage address’ isn’t shown.

Please don’t waste your credits looking at the images. I’ve got them if you want to see them but I can’t post them here due to TNA ‘s photo policy.

The 2 scenarios here are ‘village’ ones, where the addresses may not be what you are expecting or hoping to find.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Sherry-Paddington & Marylebone,
Longhurst-Ealing & Capel, Abinger, Ewhurst & Ockley,
Chandler-Chelsea

Online BumbleB

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 11 November 15 08:19 GMT (UK) »
Brilliant, Dawn.  ;D

I've only unlocked my parents' entry and they lived in a small village - Little Budworth in Cheshire, but not named within the 1939 Register, just Northwich RD - heading to the page shows Registration District 447.  I know they weren't there in 1911, but I had an idea of other names living in the village in 1911, so tried one of them - Registration District 447. 

Transcriptions and NBI are merely finding aids.  They are NOT a substitute for original record entries.
Remember - "They'll be found when they want to be found" !!!
If you don't ask the question, you won't get an answer.
He/she who never made a mistake, never made anything.
Archbell - anywhere, any date
Kendall - WRY
Milner - WRY
Appleyard - WRY

Offline smithkei

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 06 November 18 14:55 GMT (UK) »
I'm researching the village of Bigby in Lincolnshire. Not trying to find a particular person there but just want to look generally at the place using the 1939 register. I cant find it though! I even used the map on FindMyPast and it just says its in a nearby town, but how can I find which one??

Offline andrewalston

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 06 November 18 15:55 GMT (UK) »
It looks like FindMyPast have not adjusted the more rural records to reflect their geography, so other means are needed.

Bigby comes under Caistor Rural District, so you can use the Address Search to narrow things down.

Unfortunately, no street names starting Bigby appear, probably because the first address on that road is redacted, and all the others were just dittoed. However, Smithy Lane is shown in the list of roads in Caistor RD. The top of the page shows "High Street Bigby", so we have found the right place - the first entry is for Horace Robinson.

The other method would be to find someone from 1911 who was unlikely to have moved far by 1939, and search for them.
Looking at ALSTON in south Ribble area, ALSTEAD and DONBAVAND/DUNBABIN etc. everywhere, HOWCROFT and MARSH in Bolton and Westhoughton, PICKERING in the Whitehaven area.

Census information is Crown Copyright. See www.nationalarchives.gov.uk for details.


Offline smithkei

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 06 November 18 21:21 GMT (UK) »
Many thanks for that.

Offline thebounder

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #5 on: Friday 09 November 18 13:06 GMT (UK) »


http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/places/regindex2-1.pdf

Then I looked for Vera Nobes, his daughter, (mistranscribed at Noibes) but recorded as Chandler as that was her later married surname

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/locked?id=tna%2fr39%2f2156%2f2156e%2f002%2f03

the issue here is that the image has been cropped so you can’t see the header, Vera is at Old Lands Cottage in the village of Whaddon but the cottage doesn’t have a street name and Whaddon (in the Winslow RD) doesn’t show anywhere just as Steventon above.



I can't get the link to ukbmd to work.  I just get an Internal Server error.

The header on the Vera Nobes hasn't been cropped.  It's Find My Past's bad way of displaying the page.  If you zoom in on the page a few times, and then scroll to the top you can read the header which gives a registration district of 147/3

Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #6 on: Friday 09 November 18 14:01 GMT (UK) »
I'm researching the village of Bigby in Lincolnshire. Not trying to find a particular person there but just want to look generally at the place using the 1939 register. I cant find it though! I even used the map on FindMyPast and it just says its in a nearby town, but how can I find which one??

You could try starting here
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01mzt/

Then use the previous page/next page arrows to scroll round the village.

To find villages if you don't have a name use the address search option
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-streets/1939-register
You can often use a modern map to discover a street name before trying the address search.

Cheers
Guy
http://anguline.co.uk/Framland/index.htm   The site that gives you facts not promises!
http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.

Offline dawnsh

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #7 on: Friday 09 November 18 21:35 GMT (UK) »
Quote
I can't get the link to ukbmd to work.  I just get an Internal Server error.

The header on the Vera Nobes hasn't been cropped.  It's Find My Past's bad way of displaying the page.  If you zoom in on the page a few times, and then scroll to the top you can read the header which gives a registration district of 147/3

I have updated the link

The original 1939 register image when first released was incorrect.

I reported it as such and was notified when it had been updated.

But yes, generally, the images aren't displayed to their best.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Sherry-Paddington & Marylebone,
Longhurst-Ealing & Capel, Abinger, Ewhurst & Ockley,
Chandler-Chelsea

Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: 1939 census again and finding people in villages
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 10 November 18 07:35 GMT (UK) »


http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/places/regindex2-1.pdf

Then I looked for Vera Nobes, his daughter, (mistranscribed at Noibes) but recorded as Chandler as that was her later married surname

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record/locked?id=tna%2fr39%2f2156%2f2156e%2f002%2f03

the issue here is that the image has been cropped so you can’t see the header, Vera is at Old Lands Cottage in the village of Whaddon but the cottage doesn’t have a street name and Whaddon (in the Winslow RD) doesn’t show anywhere just as Steventon above.



I can't get the link to ukbmd to work.  I just get an Internal Server error.

The header on the Vera Nobes hasn't been cropped.  It's Find My Past's bad way of displaying the page.  If you zoom in on the page a few times, and then scroll to the top you can read the header which gives a registration district of 147/3

The image is not cropped the problem is on your computer and the magnification level you are viewing at.
If the image seems to be cropped increase the magnification and the details at the top of the page will appear.

Cheers
Guy
http://anguline.co.uk/Framland/index.htm   The site that gives you facts not promises!
http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.