Searching the past for presents
Warwickshire Libraries are offering the perfect present for friends and relatives this Christmas with vouchers that allow the user to access all census information taken in England and Wales since 1841.
A national census has been taken every ten years since 1801. As of 1841, details on individuals and households were also recorded.
Two websites, http://www.findmypast.com (previously known as http://www.1837online.com after the date when civil registration was introduced) and http://www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ have returns for England and Wales with all details since 1841.
The range of records on http://www.findmypast.com includes over 400 million entries now dating back as far as 1656. As well as census information, the site also includes details on births, marriages and deaths, military records, immigration records and information on occupations.
It offers users the opportunity to find out about how their forebears lived and how they earned a living. Because the sites are only available on a pay-per-view basis, users have to pay for access to the enumerator’s entries.
Vouchers are available from all Warwickshire libraries or from the County Record Office. At £5 each, the vouchers can make for a perfect Christmas present.
Ancestry has become a very popular pastime with television shows such as the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ highlighting to the public the surprises that digging into the family’s past can uncover.
Lesley Kirkwood of Warwickshire County Council’s Libraries Local studies section said: “These vouchers are an ideal gift for the undecided. Many people derive enormous pleasure from tracing their families’ histories and the new year is often a time when people like to look back as well as forward.
“Access to these websites is a valuable addition to the other information that the local studies service has available for those who are interested in theirs, and the county’s, past. People do not need to be online at home to enjoy these sites as all online resources are available through the People’s Network computers at any Warwickshire library.”