Ancestors & Archives
Who Lived in Your Family’s Household?
AFTER A year of trial and error – starting mainly
with error! – the online version of the UK’s 1901 census is now
up and waiting for you, on www.census.pro.gov.uk/.
The 1901 census was the subject of my column last
February, when journalistic enthusiasm at Union Jack outpaced
computing capacity and expertise at The National Archives ("TNA";
formerly the Public Records Office).
When you visit, you will be able to search census
returns for England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
by name, place, institution or ship.
Basic searches are free. There is a 50p fee to view
a transcript (copy) of an original census page for one person
counted in 1901. For another 50p you may see transcripts for
everyone else living in his or her household.
For 75p you may see an image of the actual census
return. An image may reveal your ancestors’ handwriting – Census
enumerators collected each return in the head-of-household’s own
handwriting unless the householder was illiterate, in which case the
enumerator filled in the return.
A new feature lets you search the census returns by
address. Here is how it works:
* Enter the street name and a house name or number.
* Enter a place keyword to narrow your search to one
address in one place. This avoids clogging up the system for a
search for every UK household at a common address like "7,
Empire Road".
* Seconds later the online census will tell you if
it is found the identity of person(s) who lived at that address in
1901.
Payment is by credit and debit cards. Also you may
order prepaid TNA vouchers from the USA by emailing the British
Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, Canada, on trimmer232@rogers.com.
What Records Did They Leave Behind?
TNA’s new A2A database — www.a2a.pro.gov.uk
/ — contains searchable catalogues of archives held throughout
England and dating from the 900s to the present day.
The key word here is "catalogues" because
A2A does not yet include full transcripts of the text of documents
or digital images of them, both of which are already included in the
online 1901 census returns.
In other words, A2A is like a catalogue of
catalogues, whereas the online census like a catalogue of actual
persons’ census returns. A2A will help you find descriptions of
archives, but these descriptions will not always substitute for the
actual archives which they describe.
Archives are records produced by individuals,
families or corporate bodies (such as local government organisations,
companies or universities) during their activities or business.
Archives may be paper files, parchment documents, bound volumes,
maps, plans, audio or video recordings or photographs.
Because archives have long-lasting interest for
researchers, they are cared for by their creators or in local record
offices and libraries, universities, museums and national and
specialist institutions across England. Such repositories usually
make their archives available to persons able to travel to where
they are locked away.
The interest of present-day researchers would often
surprise the people who created the archives in times past, when
such records may well have been considered merely temporary.
To find out whether archives are of interest to you,
you need to consult a catalogue or other finding aid, such as A2A.
A2A allows you to search across detailed archival
catalogues and to arrange to see or to obtain copies of specific,
useful, real archive documents with a few mouse clicks.
The A2A database will give you precise and useful
information from nearly 300 repositories in England beyond The
National Archives.
When you visit the A2A website, remember that it
does not work in the same way as an internet search engine.
* Enter a key word or phrase, and click the Search
button; you may also choose to enter optional information:
* One option is to select the location of the one
archive repository that you want to search, or else select
"All".
* Another option is to select the geographical
region of England where that one repository is located of the one
archive that you want to search, or else select "All".
* Other options allow you to designate a specific
year to search, or a span of years.
* Immediately A2A will tell you if it is found any
information related to your key word(s) and, if so, also provide
contact details for each archive repository contributing its
collection to A2A.
* Finally it is up to you to arrange to see or order
copies of any documents that you are interested in.
Whilst this database does not yet offer full
descriptions of archives in England, A2A it is being updated
regularly. You are advised to revisit often for newly-included
catalogues.
AUTHOR: Dr Richard Tracey is an
educational researcher based in Carlsbad, California. His email
address is rtrac3y@hotmail.com.
The Union Jack’s email address is ujnews@ujnews.com.
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