Hospital patients during 1939 register

[Timbo2018]

Hi

I'm trying to track down a relative who I know was in hospital during the 1939 register, but I don't know which hospital and therefore don't know the area (other than it being in England).

Is this a fruitless search? (ie were patients included on this register?)

Or maybe there are 'other' official records that document patients?

Any help appreciated.

rgds
Tim

(edited subject from "census" to "register")

[sillgen]

The 1939 register was not a census as such.  The question re hospital patients is an interesting one.   It may be answered here.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/

[dawnsh]

Hi Tim

I have found hospital patients on the 1939 register under their full name which was needed for identity cards and ration books.

If your person of interest was born after 1917 they may not appear yet.

[Timbo2018]

Hi both

Thanks for the info.

The person I am looking for was born after 1917 (although since deceased) so the 100 year rule probably applies.

As for the actual hospital they were in - I don't know how big an 'institution' it was and hence whether it was an 'enumeration district' in it's own right.

So, this might well prove to be less easy to track down...unless I can get down to the National Archives and do a search directly on their records.

PS: Have edited original subject heading ;-)

rgds
Tim

[dawnsh]

Hi again

If your person of interest was born after 1917 but died before 1991 they should be unredacted. The register was used up to that date for NHS records.

If they have died after 1991 and their death has been identified by FindMyPast or the National Archives, they will be unredacted.

Proof of death has to be supplied for those born after 1917 but you will need a 1939 address to tie everything up at their end, this address is obviously something you don't have yet.

What area do you think your person may be in? you can do address searches and maybe find the hospital/institution that way

You will only see the FindMyPast interface at the National Archives so maybe not a specific trip to make

[Timbo2018]

Hi

Thanks for the info.

The POI (a close relative) died after 1991 and it's only my curiosity that will be rewarded if I do find them.

I've since found out about the London Metropolitan Archive (aka LMA), in London as according to the UK Govt website, there is a database of all the UK hospitals

(here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/85bc224d-03ca-4816-b2ee-8734e0e7ff2d/hospital-records )

So, as I am sure they were in a London hospital (obv pre-NHS) so the above dataset gives me a pointer to the LMA as they hold lots of info about many aspects of London life.

A visit to the LMA is therefore called for methinks...

So, thanks for info - this has helped me to focus on my next steps :-)

rgds
Tim