{"id":11066,"date":"2022-02-25T12:20:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T11:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com\/?p=291"},"modified":"2022-02-25T13:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T12:12:10","slug":"what-is-the-1939-register","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/rss_feed\/what-is-the-1939-register\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the 1939 Register?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rosemary Collins\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 25 February 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What is the 1939 Register?<\/h1>\n
The 1939 Register is one of the biggest and most recent online records sets for English and Welsh<\/a> family history. Following the start of the Second World War<\/a> on 3 September 1939, the British government needed to conduct an accurate count of Britain\u2019s civilian population to enable issuing of ration books and ID cards, the direction of labour and conscription into the armed forces. The 1939 Register is therefore the most complete snapshot available of the English and Welsh population on the eve of war. It lists the names, addresses and other details of over 45 million people. The original 7000 volumes of the 1939 Register are held at The National Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When was the 1939 Register taken?<\/h2>\n
The 1939 Register was taken on 29 September 1939.<\/p>\n
How to access the 1939 Register<\/h2>\n
The 1939 Register is available on subscription genealogy websites Ancestry<\/a>, Findmypast<\/a>, TheGenealogist<\/a> and MyHeritage<\/a>. Both TheGenealogist and MyHeritage only offer the transcription at present, with no images. The transcription they use is the same as the one used by Findmypast. Ancestry uses its own transcription along with images.<\/p>\n
What will the 1939 Register tell you?<\/h2>\n
1939 Register records are very similar to census records<\/a>. The records list each resident of each household in England and Wales and give each individual\u2019s full name; address; date of birth; marital status; occupation<\/a>; and whether the individual was a member of the armed services or reserves.<\/p>\n
However, there are some differences from census records. Unlike the census, the 1939 Register does not give the person\u2019s place of birth. However, it does give their exact date of birth, rather than their age, which can make it easier to find your ancestor\u2019s civil birth record<\/a>. Unlike the census, the 1939 Register also includes the full name and details of people in prison<\/a> or other institutions.<\/p>\n
The 1939 Register was continually updated while National Registration was in force, and continued to be used by the National Health Service after the war. The records were regularly updated until 1991. If a woman in the 1939 Register married or remarried after the records were taken, the records have been amended to include her married name. Some other 1939 Register records have also been amended in a similar way \u2013 for example, Winston Churchill\u2019s record lists his occupation as \u20181st Lord of the Admiralty\u2019, but this was changed to \u2018Prime Minister\u2019 when he took office the following year.<\/p>\n
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