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http://home(.)clara(.)net/denis(.)mccready/index(.)htm Hi all I have just recieved an email from the British Home Children site about the above trying to get the 1911 census released early. Above is the website explaining all about it. I think this would be fantastic!! merry Xmas Jan x

janet lets hope that it materialises.we all might be able to find those elusive rellies that dodged the 1901 census...lol susie

yes it would be great I am going to email my local council it may or may not work but we can but try!!

I will nudge this back up then if thats ok the more support they get the more it is likely to happen :)

ive just e.mailed my local council.not that it would do i lot of good,i dare say.but at least ive tried susie

Hi, The council have no say in the early release of any census. The government made the decision that censuses should be closed for 100 years and it would take another government decision to release it early. In the past it was possible to get a look at a specific address if you had a good reason (eg for an inheritance) but family history research has never been considered a good enough reason. I read somewhere that even the specific address access has been withdrawn so we'll all have to wait until 2012, unless the government decide to release it early and I think that's highly unlikely. Gwynne

Hi Val, I was trying to explain that writing to the council is a waste of time as it is not their decision to make. There is no point in putting pressure on the wrong organisations. I wish the campaigners well but I don't think it will happen. Pessimistic maybe! But then I expected the 1901 to be online in January 2002 and had to wait until August! Gwynne

I think 100 years is not an unreasonable amount of time. People who are in this census and still alive are entitled to there privacy. If the 1911 census is released early how long before the campain to get the 1921 census released is started? I do not want all the information that I completed in the last census released to all and sundry whilst I am alive and whilst the information contained in the 1911 is considerably less, are not these people entitled to the same respect? I understand my view will be in the minority, but just as I would like access to more information, I do not want to infringe on other people's rights however few there are. Gary

Hi all Thank you so much for your comments I have emailed my local MP I always belive if we don't try we never will know.(Isn't thay why we do family history in the first place?) I can understand some peoples comments and I respect them although I dont really think it will infringe on anybodys privacy as you can find as much about people from 2002 as you can in 1901! The reason i think its nice would be it would be easier to find living relatives it would be nice to find grandparents and other family members before we lose another generation, in 10 years time it may be too late. I really appreciate everybodys time. merry Christmas Jan x

I agree with Janet that 100 years is too long. Government papers are released after 30 years and will have a much greater impact on living persons and their families than knowing where a particular person was living and who with 90 years ago. I believe that 70 or 80 years would be a better target to aim for, that would enable us to fill in that gap between the living and the dead. And with the amount of information available online on living people now, and companies and agencies knowing what you've bought and where, where you've switched your mobile phone on and off (see Soham trial), where you've driven your car, surveillance cameras on every corner in cities with facial recognition coming up fast, DNA records, etc. denying simple information on events beyond most living memory smacks of "information is power" syndrome.

What "private" information does the census contain? name address, place of birth, occupation, age? not really private is it!! Bob

Much as it would help my research to have access to 1911, I'm with Gary on this one. Early release might cause distress to some people, especially if subsequent censuses are released even earlier, eg 75 or 50 years. Consider those in prison or other institutions who have kept part of their life a secret, or those who supposedly lost husbands in the war. I think 100 years is a satisfactory timescale for everyone. If future censuses are to be released earlier, we should be told at the time they are taken.

Hi all keep pushing this one to the top of the list so more people get to see it good luck Merry Xmas

This web site address come up not found - even tried removing the brackets, but the reply is the same.

I got a reply from my MP great I thought ,but it turns out I emailed the wrong one durrr! She has contacted the correct one and she said he will contact me in the New Year anyone else any luck?

What is there in the census that people want to hide? I really can't see why the details in the census need to be kept from view. Lucia

Hi all I can't see why people have things to hide either, at the end of the day if you think it is going to be hurtful to someone alive then if you had any thought, keep mum! I can't see anybody starting family history just to "get at people" and uncover their pasts or maybe i'm a bit nieve? I know I have found out things from the 1901 that may be scandelous in my family tree to people who are still alive now. I just kept it to myself.I think most people would be more pleased to find living relatives and keep the links alive now! Happy New Year Jan x