The 1939 Register has arrived

The 1939 Register is now available on the website. As described by The National Archives research guide for this Register:

The 1939 Register provides a snapshot of the civilian population of England and Wales just after the outbreak of the Second World War. As the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and no census was taken in 1941, the Register provides the most complete survey of the population of England and Wales between 1921 and 1951, making it an invaluable resource for family, social and local historians.

Between the previous 1921 Census shortly after World War I and the 1939 Register just before World War II, Bratton Clovelly experienced a great deal of movement into and out of the parish. The population dropped from 453 to 377 residents in Bratton Clovelly but the population in the detached western area that had become part of Broadwoodwidger in 1885 remained steady at 57 residents. In Bratton Clovelly, only one-third of the residents of the parish in 1921 were still there in 1939 and, in the western part, only 7 of the 57 residents in 1921 were still there in 1939. Some male residents were already beginning to leave for military duty, a number that would grow rapidly as the War spread.

When you look at the 1939 Register, you will notice some records marked as ‘Redacted’. Although FindMyPast released the 1939 Register online some years back, there are still records withheld due to the 100-year privacy rule. Some of these people can be determined by their Civil Birth Registrations but we will have to await the release of further records by FindMyPast to discover who the remaining residents were, slightly less than 10% of the population. We hope you find your ancestors!