1939 Census. A Question

[LizzieL]

One of my aunts who would be 102 if still alive doesn't show up on the register. The trouble is I don't know where she is likely to be in 1939, so can't ask for her record to be opened.
I can only assume her dob has been wrongly transcribed and she appears younger than she really was

[Ellenmai]

LizzieL I was lucky I knew the approximate area my Great Grandparents may have lived, but they had transcribed their DOB's the wrong way around so they didn't show up at first.There must have been thousands of these mistakes given the size of the Register.

[rosie99]

I understand that it was transcribed in downward columns so that no one got to see the full entry of any one person.

[robbo43]

I understand that it was transcribed in downward columns so that no one got to see the full entry of any one person.

Yes, each column on a page was transcribed by a different person and each transcriber only saw the column they were transcribing. Problems arise if there were unoccupied houses or other blank lines, some transcribers included the blanks, others omitted them so the columns can get out of sequence.

The Register was used and updated by the NHS up until 1991 as the basis for their records so the records for anyone who was born less than 100 years ago but died before 1991 should be open. Records are opened annually as the 100th anniversary of date of birth is reached.