The Lemon Fool

This is a valuable register as there was no 1941 Census.

Many records are blacked out with the legend: "Record Officially Closed" - does anyone know why this is?
Does it happen because a 1941 census would not by now be released and some of that information is sensitive, or simply because those people are still alive?

I would like to understand because one of the record lines within the family one of my ancestors' has been thus censored. i.e. a line where one of the chilren might be is blacked out.

Arb.

Arborbridge wrote:"Record Officially Closed" - does anyone know why this is?
Does it happen because a 1941 census would not by now be released and some of that information is sensitive, or simply because those people are still alive?

Something to do with the latter, I think. I had the same thing when I looked up my grandparents' (fairly large) family on the 1939 Register, a couple of years ago. Very annoying, it was! But when it works, the Register is a mine of useful information that you don't find elsewhere.

My recollections are a bit fuzzy, but there were handwritten corrections all over the records, to show )IIRC) who'd changed their names and who had moved elsewhere in the meantime, or even just changed their occupation.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:

Arborbridge wrote:"Record Officially Closed" - does anyone know why this is?
Does it happen because a 1941 census would not by now be released and some of that information is sensitive, or simply because those people are still alive?

Something to do with the latter, I think. I had the same thing when I looked up my grandparents' (fairly large) family on the 1939 Register, a couple of years ago. Very annoying, it was! But when it works, the Register is a mine of useful information that you don't find elsewhere.

My recollections are a bit fuzzy, but there were handwritten corrections all over the records, to show )IIRC) who'd changed their names and who had moved elsewhere in the meantime, or even just changed their occupation.

BJ

As you say, it's a mine of info, and there are later annotations - such as name after marriage. But it is all a bit scrappy at times!
Much to my surprise, I found my parents and my brother, plus his sister and mother in law! - I think it was probably a family holiday.

Arborbridge wrote:Many records are blacked out with the legend: "Record Officially Closed" - does anyone know why this is?
Does it happen because a 1941 census would not by now be released and some of that information is sensitive, or simply because those people are still alive?

Not sure if I read it on Find My Past, who were (are?) the only source for the 1939 register, or somewhere else, but it definitely stated records were closed because of the possibility that the person might still be alive. There was a mechanism for getting the information unredacted if it could be shown they were dead, but this does seem a little chicken and egg to me as you would need to know who they were before being able to prove they were not living......

Also, based on some families where I know whose entry has been redacted, there seemed to me to be some inconsistencies in who were and who were not blacked out but I've not looked into it enough to reach any conclusion. Possibly in some cases a redaction has been appealed, but certainly not by me.

And as others have said, it is clear that the records had their use for some official purposes well after the war. There are many four letter annotations which I assume refer to Enumeration Districts (EDs) where certain people have moved to, and some subsequent married names are added. A word of caution though. The are sometimes dates against these name changes. Don't assume its the marriage date. As an example, my mother was single when the Register was compiled. Her name change is noted on the page together with a four letter code of M/OSA which is Stafford, and a date of 30.10.51 (There is also an alphanumeric code added, but I've no idea what that represents). She married on 22.10.51 so the date on the register could relate to when the entry was amended. Stafford is where she was living after the marriage but not where she was married, or where she was living prior to the marriage, so the precise relevence of the code is unclear to me.

Background information here:

1939 Register - The National Archives


GS