Federation Of Family History Societies

The National Archives Announces Its Partner In Digitising The 1911 Census

The National Archives is delighted to announce that Scotland Online will partner the UK government’s official archive in the forthcoming project to put the 1911 census for England and Wales online.

Scotland Online was established in 1995, and is one of the UK’s leading Internet business solutions providers. In 2002, in partnership with the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), Scotland Online established what is now one of the world’s leading genealogy websites ScotlandsPeople www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

The 1911 census (document references RG14 and RG78) is huge - it currently occupies 2 kilometres of shelving at The National Archives. Comprising over eight million householder schedules and a further 38,000 enumerators’ summary books, it details information relating to approximately 35 million people then living in England and Wales.

Once digitised the census will take up an equally large ½ a petabyte of computer memory or, physically, 800 data tapes. The digital scanning alone in preparation for digitisation will create 18 million images - 14 times the number of images created in advance of the 1901 census being launched online in 2002.

From 2009 there will be a phased release of the information in the 1911 census starting with the major conurbations. This will include images and transcription data, but with sensitive data redacted in line with the Information Commissioner’s recent ruling. From 3 January 2012 the public will have full access to the entire 1911 census, including the information not accessible in 2009. Researchers anywhere in the world will be able to search across the fields of the census by name, address or The National Archives reference, and download high-resolution digital images.