1939 Register up and running (Part 2)

[roopat]

I've read all the comments and tips with interest. I'm a bit bemused with my (several) Chelsea families who either seem to have people missing from the household  who I would expect to be there (no, I don't think they had joined the armed forces/been evacuated at that time) or are missing from the register completely.
I was just looking at the free previews out of curiosity. But on reading the link Dawnsh posted (thank you again!) I got quite unreasonably cross at FindMyPast's offhand comment that if a person who was born post 1915 but died pre-1991 was still closed, it just meant the NHS hadn't updated the Register. Or couldn't be bothered?
I find that a bit disrespectful to my late father (1922-1971)& others  especially as there were obviously many people whose deaths went unrecorded by the NHS, if all the many comments on here are anything to go by.

Well that's me worked up over nothing as usual! I just get fed-up with inaccuracies in what should be a straightforward database. Why pay money to view something so obviously flawed?

(But then we recently discovered my husband has 2 records for our local hospital so if the GP can't find a result on one, she goes into the other one which is the same number with a letter attached.   )

[MerryM]

I looked up a group of random people from my tree who were all born after 1915 and all died well before the 1990s. Of the ten or twelve people I looked for I only found one (and I did try quite a few variables etc and as one was my father I tried even harder to find him). Obviously some may be very  badly mistranscribed etc etc but I was still pretty surprised at the poor success rate.

[coombs]

So people born in the 1880s and 1890s probably have been redacted due to the NHS not updating their death records. I'd think though during 2014-2015 transcribing tha common sense would be someone born 1880-1900 would the most likely not be alive in 2015. Even people born pre 1880 may have been redacted.

[MerryM]

I just thought Id have another look for my dad and this time I just put in his date of birth without the name (I've probably already done this but never mind!). As I was looking through the results I noted just how many more women than men there were - the first three pages had 15 women and five men each - then I remembered I'd selected male at the start, so what are so many women doing in the results?

EDIT _ forget that - when I went back to the search page the Male I'd entered had magically gone. Still some women in the results though, and my father is still not there.

[MerryM]

So people born in the 1880s and 1890s probably have been redacted due to the NHS not updating their death records. I'd think though during 2014-2015 transcribing tha common sense would be someone born 1880-1900 would the most likely not be alive in 2015. Even people born pre 1880 may have been redacted.

I thought everyone showing a birth date before 1915 was automatically included?

[JonathanC]

So people born in the 1880s and 1890s probably have been redacted due to the NHS not updating their death records. I'd think though during 2014-2015 transcribing tha common sense would be someone born 1880-1900 would the most likely not be alive in 2015. Even people born pre 1880 may have been redacted.

No, anyone over 100 years old (alive or dead) has not been redacted.  The issue is with people born 1915- who have died and for whom the register has not been updated, and therefore have been redacted.

[Old Bristolian]

I've just viewed the entry for my father (redacted) and my grandparents and cannot understand the numbering. The page reads as follows:

House no 53 schedule 115  1 Grandfather
Entry closed
                                        2 Grandmother
Entry closed
Entry closed
Entry closed
                                         4 A.N Other
House no 57 schedule 116.  1 Individual no 1
                                         2 Individual no 2

Can anyone explain this? All the other couples on the page seem to be be 1&2 with children redacted, but in this case someone (? possibly my father) comes between my grandparents. Also, house number 55 is either missing or the schedule number has been missed. Sadly, without seeing the whole thing, I may never know. I have applied for the opening of my father's entry, so I may be able to clarify the first point

Steve

[JonathanC]

When you consider that the register was compiled in 1939, the NHS didn't exist until 1948 and the updates took place until 1991 at a time with no or little computing power available it is IMO not entirely surprising that the register was inaccurate by 1991.  Not sure if FindMyPast have made this quite clear enough, or if anyone has quantified the issue.

[Guy Etchells]

So people born in the 1880s and 1890s probably have been redacted due to the NHS not updating their death records. I'd think though during 2014-2015 transcribing tha common sense would be someone born 1880-1900 would the most likely not be alive in 2015. Even people born pre 1880 may have been redacted.

I thought everyone showing a birth date before 1915 was automatically included?

Everyone born 100 years and one day ago should be open but errors do occur, just like some people who should have been redacted are still open.

Do not forget the database is still being updated and reconciled with the deaths index, this is not just a problem that faces FindMyPast but will face any other provider who licences the databse when it becomes available to them.
In reality it will be a problem (though a lessening problem) until well after 2040.

Cheers
Guy