The National Archives announces its partner in digitising the 1911 Census
 
11th April 2007

The National Archives is delighted to announce that Scotland Online has been awarded the contract to digitise the 1911 census for England and Wales. Scotland Online's genealogy subsidiary Find My Past will be making the census available online through a dedicated website at 1911census.co.uk, as well as through its own site at findmypast.com.

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 36 million people living in England and Wales in April 1911.

Once digitised, the census will take up an equally large 0.5 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.

Census records are invaluable in helping us to trace our ancestors, to view a day in their life, find their siblings and occupations and place them in their historical and social context. Accessing the 1911 census will help genealogists to build their family tree, break down brick walls and fill in a vital part of their family's history.

From 2009 there will be a staggered release of the information in the 1911 census starting with the major conurbations. This will include images and transcription data, but with sensitive data held back, 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 catalogue reference, and download high-resolution digital images.

Natalie Ceeney, Chief Executive of The National Archives said:

"The 1911 census holds more information than the 1901 census.  It is also the first census where the householder's schedule has remained the master entry, rather than the enumerator's notes, so researchers are actually able, in most cases, to view their actual ancestors' handwriting when looking at 1911 census entries.  This will be an invaluable resource for anyone who is working hard to trace their family's history." 

Dr Richard Callison of Scotland Online, said:

"The 1911 census records will provide a mine of important historical information and I'm delighted that The National Archives has chosen to work with us on this momentous project.  We have a strong track record in the field of genealogy, operating the leading British family history websites, including findmypast.com, ScotlandsPeople in partnership with the General Register Office for Scotland, and Ancestorsonboard.com in association with The National Archives. We have made over 600 million historical records available online to date."

Over the past five years The National Archives has embarked on an ambitious and successful programme to digitise the most popular documents in its largely paper-based collection.  It is aiming to digitise over 100 million pages by 2012.  These range from Domesday Book (now available digitally at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday), through to the censuses, prisoner of war records, ancient petitions, war service and medal records.

The National Archives has worked with Find My Past previously, making millions of outgoing Passenger Lists from the UK exclusively available for online research. The National Archives has also launched a digitisation-on-demand programme which makes the majority of its collection accessible to researchers from anywhere across the globe.