08 July 2015

1901 Census shutting down

With the ready availability of the 1901 census of England and Wales on Findmypast and Ancestry the dedicated site 1901censusonline.com will be closing down on 23 July 2015.
After that date you will no longer be able to access any saved records so download your saved records to your own computer before 23 July.
You can no longer buy new credits on 1901censusonline.com, but if you have any remaining credits you can use them until 23 July.
Do you remember the beginning of the story? Contractor QinetiQ was responsible for functionality of the original site which crashed soon after launch on 2 January 2002 and was not restored to full operation until 21 November. According to the report Unlocking the Past (pdf) from the (UK) National Audit Office

The initial crash was triggered by overwhelming demand that caused technical problems for a system which was designed for much lower capacity and which was not able to divert such a large initial surge of traffic. The resolution of these problems became protracted, due to the parties (QinetiQ and the PRO) failing easily to agree on the results from their separate testing programmes, and the relationship between the parties deteriorated. 

No comments: