1939 Register To Show Ancestors As They Prepare For War

findmypast have announced a major new project to digitise and publish the 1939 Register on their website.

This is the most exciting record release since the 1911 census and could provide major new breakthroughs in our family history research!

02/11/15 UPDATE: The 1939 Register is now available to search here.

Here’s a quick overview of the 1939 National Register and what it can offer family historians…

At the outbreak of World War II the government acted quickly to carry out an emergency enumeration of the nation to help with their planning decisions.

Each household was issued with a form to record the details of all those living at the address on 29^th September 1939. The information collected included:

• Address
• Name
• Sex
• Date of Birth
• Marital Status
• Occupation
• Membership of the armed forces or reserves

The details were then used to issue identity cards that all citizens had to carry with them for the duration of the war. And in anticipation of the need for rationing, the data was also used to issue ration books.

With the 1931 census records destroyed in a fire and no census taken in 1941 due to the war, the 1939 Register is the only surviving record of the entire nation in a 30 year period.

Working in partnership with The National Archives, findmypast are aiming to have published the records within the next two years. So we should have access to them before the 1921 census, which is not due for release until 2022.

The record set contains over 40 million records…

However, in order to protect the privacy of the living only records for those with a birth date of over 100 years ago or who are proved to be deceased will be available.

02/11/15 UPDATE: The 1939 Register is now available to search here.