Findmypast Announces Project to Digitise & Publish 1921 Census of England & Wales

The following is an announcement obtained via Findmypast

The National Archives in association with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has awarded leading British & Irish family history website Findmypast the contract to digitise and publish the 1921 Census online

In the most anticipated family history development since the online publication of the 1939 Register, Findmypast has been selected as The National Archives’ commercial partner to make the 1921 Census of England & Wales available online.

The census, which was the first to be conducted following the introduction of the Census Act of 1920, will be published online by Findmypast in January 2022.

The project will see Findmypast capture digital images and transcribe the records in a way that will enable family historians across the globe to conduct meaningful searches of these important records when they are opened for the very first time.

Taken on 19th June 1921, the census consists of more than 28,000 bound volumes of original household returns containing detailed information on close to 38 million individuals.

It provides greater detail than any previous census as, in addition to the questions asked in 1911, the 1921 returns also asked householders to reveal their place of employment, the industry they worked in and the materials they worked with as well as their employer’s name. Those aged 15 and older were required to provide information about their marital status, including if divorced, while for those under 15 the census recorded whether both parents were alive or if either or both had died.

The 1921 Census also included detailed questions on education, and was the first in which individual householders could submit separate confidential returns.

Read more at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census

Comment:  This isn't too surprising given Findmypast was the commercial partner for the 1911 census and 1939 National Registration. Expect to pay. Both of those captured the consumer surplus in the data by initially charging more for access, except in the TNA building at Kew.

With this announcement, well before the January 2022 release, its highly likely release will be on the first day that law permits public access.

Is that a model Library and Archives Canada should follow? We had to wait nearly 9 months past the  date the 1926 census was officially passed to LAC until release — and without charge.