1939 Register up and running (Part 2)

[dawnsh]

Since then, they have hugely increased the number of screens, by removing a lot of the cabinets which were used to house their collection of microfilms.

Maybe MattD30 can report back after his visit at the weekend?

[jillruss]

Just had a totally unhelpful reply from FindMyPast to my query about missing people and addresses.

'There are a number of potential reasons for people not showing up on a first search of the Register:

• If the person was born less than 100 years ago, they are deemed to still be alive unless proven otherwise so the record is closed.
• Transcription errors – Findmypast have committed to an accuracy level of 98.5% across the whole dataset but with an index that links to a database containing details of millions of individuals it is inevitable that some errors will occur .
• Names listed differently than anticipated. As with many large databases you may need to be flexible and even creative with your searching.  You may need to carry out your search a number of times but vary the information slightly, or try using surname only to find the correct family. To narrow down your search you may wish to carry out an address search.
• Individuals listed in a different location to family groups. On 29th September 1939 mass evacuation of the population had already occurred so the records of many individuals in particular may be listed in an entirely different location to the rest of the family group. You may need to review names and dates of birth of individuals in areas where individuals were evacuated to in order to find the correct record.

Very polite but smacks of a standard reply technique to me. I find it mildly insulting that, although I've been searching for these missing people all week, the reason I'm not finding them is because I'm not doing it right! ( 'first search' indeed!! I must have tried about 10 times a day)

Until FindMyPast admit that, contrary to their publicity blurb, everyone living in England and Wales in 1939 was NOT included on this register and that they need to look into where these missng people's details were kept as and when they were issued with ID cards etc, we're not going to make any further progress.

This is so typical of FindMyPast - when they issued the Yorkshire parish registers, I tried to point out that they had misindexed a whole Beverley parish. I found it by accident and wanted it put right so others could also find the correct records, but it took a few emails before FindMyPast would put right their mistake.

[jan57]

Incredibly unhelpful reply from FindMyPast re my report of a missing stretch of Caithness Drive in Crosby:

"Thank you for your interest in the 1939 register.

If you are searching for a particular street and are unable to find it you may need to be flexible in the search terms that you use.

However please note that the street may not have been taken in order, for example odd numbers may have been taken first as the enumerator moved up on side of the street.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance

 Explore your world on the #eveofwar"

 My  reply  to  my  query was equally    unhelpful  !     in fact  it  seems  as  if they  didn't READ  my  query  at all! as their  reply  was  basically  my  query  !    I   had   purchased the 5   household  package     managed to  view 2   but then    on  attempting to view  a third   got asked to  pay  for  more credits!  !!  Will have to  reply   Monday  to  them as am busy   this weekend

[andycand]

Until FindMyPast admit that, contrary to their publicity blurb, everyone living in England and Wales in 1939 was NOT included on this register and that they need to look into where these missng people's details were kept as and when they were issued with ID cards etc, we're not going to make any further progress.

This is so typical of FindMyPast - when they issued the Yorkshire parish registers, I tried to point out that they had misindexed a whole Beverley parish. I found it by accident and wanted it put right so others could also find the correct records, but it took a few emails before FindMyPast would put right their mistake.

This link which someone posted earlier has some interesting information about not finding the person you are looking for
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/

Andy

[ReadyDale]

Until FindMyPast admit that, contrary to their publicity blurb, everyone living in England and Wales in 1939 was NOT included on this register and that they need to look into where these missng people's details were kept as and when they were issued with ID cards etc, we're not going to make any further progress.

It is quite a big jump from not being able to find them to saying not everyone was included in the register. As they needed to be on the register for ID cards and rationing purposes, I would say it's extremely likely that most people we currently cannot find are indeed in there somewhere. Probably a lot less people are ACTUALLY missing than in, say, the census.
In defence of FindMyPast, they don't know you, they don't know how thorough you are with your searching. I'm sure there are people out there who, if something isn't EXACTLY where they expect to find it, swear it is missing (I am not for one moment saying that is you), and the job of that e-mail is to "encourage" people to think outside the box.
However, I'm equally sure there are many, many instances of people being missing from FMPs indexes of the register or mistranscribed. With something of this size, I suppose is almost inevitable.It happens on all similar releases (Anc's Electoral Rolls for London were - still are - a nightmare). What makes this harder is that we cannot currently see everything. So when we say to FindMyPast "something is missing", it is so easy for them to reply that it is just us looking in the wrong place

[Guy Etchells]

I expected the name to be as it appears on the register, not the supplementary info added years afterwards,for it to be included as it was at the time the register was compiled, if other family members are searching for this info and not aware of her remarriage, as many didn't.

I have just rechecked my great aunt, who also has three surnames in the register and she shows up if you search on any one of those three. So regardless of whether you were aware of her remarriage or not, whe would still be findable.

One of my aunts is not findable under her maiden name.  They have her indexed under her full Christian name with her Christian name again in brackets and married surname.  I cross checked using the folio and piece no. and found her husband and the rest of his family so I know I have the right lady     Seems to be a matter of pot luck.

If I understand you correctly, the index says:
FirstName (FirstName) MarriedSurname
If that is the case, then obviously it won't appear in a search on the maiden name, as it isn't in the database.
Have you purchased the actual image yet?
It could be that is exactly what the original record says, so is not FindMyPast's transcribing or indexing problem.
As has been highlighted a number of times in the various 1939 threads, this was a document containing many millions of names, updated for over 50 years, with interaction by many many people. There is more than enough oportunity for it to be imperfect, before even considering FindMyPast's work on it.
All things considered, it's in pretty good shape.

This is not a simple as it seems.

Take for instance my mother :

Maiden surname GUY (1915-1938) : 1st Married surname GITTINS (1938-1946) : 2nd Married surname ETCHELLS (1946-2004 marriage in Scotland).

The 1939 National Register indexes her under her first, name, initial and 2nd married name with her first married name in brackets, i.e. Anita E. Etchells (Gittins), her maiden surname does not appear in the index.
One good thing is even marriages which have taken place in Scotland are noted on the register.

One disadvantage of redactions is the name of the road she was living on at the time is redacted as it appears once on the image under a redacted entry.
I am not sure if this will prevent searching by address though suspect it will

Cheers
Guy

[carol8353]

This link which someone posted earlier has some interesting information about not finding the person you are looking for
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/

Andy

Sadly that link is coming up as 'page not found' Andy?

[jillruss]

This link which someone posted earlier has some interesting information about not finding the person you are looking for
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/

Andy

Sadly that link is coming up as 'page not found' Andy?

Same here, Andy.

[Gaie]

Hi All

I'm sitting in The National Archives right now; I used the free FindMyPast search at home to locate relatives, then re-found them here.  I asked and you can take photos of the screens for free.

I've got time to look up and photograph five more searches so first come, first served!  I need names, dobs and districts as they appear in the free searches.

I asked regarding the letter/number annotations; some are a complete mystery at the moment.  They are trying to find out what some of them mean, but as you can appreciate they have been added to the register over decades by numerous staff.

KR
Gaie

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED