The 1939 Register - findmypast

[Anstey Nomad]

I don't know whether this helps or not. This is the conversation I have just had with support at FMP:

Sheila Medlock
1939 Register question. My father (1917-1993) is not coming up on a search. I have his death certificate . I've looked at the application for a record to be opened, but it seems to require the address of the person. I do not know where my father was living in 1939. Is there any way I can prove death and have his record opened if I don't know the address?
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Adam Redpath
Hello Shelia.
You can submit an FOI request to search closed records within the 1939 Register via The National Archives website.

The National Archives will guide you through their process and if your request is successful, we will receive notification and instruction directly from TNA to open the record. This can take up to 20 working days, as per TNA guidelines.
Sheila Medlock
And I can do this without having the address?
Adam Redpath
As long as the TNA can find the record without using the address.
Sheila Medlock
That's helpful. Do you have a link for the FOI application?
Adam Redpath
There you go.. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/foi/
Sheila Medlock
That's great - thanks.

[kiterunner]

Thanks for the info, AN. I wonder if they will charge you £25 as shown on this page, though:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...West%20Riding)

I have to say the info in FMP's 1939 Register "Help" section does not fit the bill:

What happens if my ancestor’s record is closed, even though I know they’re no longer alive?
If you think that someone should appear on the 1939 Register because they’ve died, you can request online a copy of their death certificate from the General Register Office (GRO), included in the Useful links section on this page. A certificate costs £9.25.
You can find the date of death, and further details needed by the GRO for anyone who died before 2007, in our England & Wales deaths, also included in the Useful links section.


They need to say what you would do after that!!

[Mary from Italy]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

Email FMP First Support and make sure you specify which country's site you want to use it on (i.e. what currency you want to pay in.) I emailed them and got a code but it gave me an error message when I tried to use it, emailed them again and they said I could only use it on the Australian site. I then asked them for a UK one instead but haven't heard back yet.

Thanks Kate, I'll try that.

[kiterunner]

I have received my replacement code now.



FMP have posted on Facebook to say that if an address has no open records, it will not come up on an address search, and that they will be publishing a blog post later today with more info on this type of situation.

[Merry]

FMP have posted on Facebook to say that if an address has no open records, it will not come up on an address search, and that they will be publishing a blog post later today with more info on this type of situation.

That suggests it's not currently possible to tell the difference between a house with only closed record residents and a house that is empty. Great!

[anne fraser]

Merry thanks for the update about the evacuees. It looks as though they could be the mystery closed records. It would have been interesting to know who they were as I have photos of them with my grandparents. Ironically my mum who was a teacher was evacuated with a class of Bristol children to Cornwall for safety.

I think the London children returned to London in time for the V2 bombing.

[kiterunner]

I presume this is the blog post they mentioned earlier today but it's hard to tell as their blog doesn't seem to go in chronological order any more:
https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/watch-1436591498.html

[Anstey Nomad]

I've now had a response from TNA.

Thank you for contacting The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

You can indeed submit an FOI request to search the closed records in the 1939 Register. You can do that by visiting this page on our website:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...OI1939Register

You can find further information in our 1939 Register research guide.

I hope this helps.

Well actually it doesn't, because of course it requires an address, which I don't have, which was where we came in.

I've replied and pointed out that Find My Past said I could make an FOI request and I did not need the address and I will see what they say, but I'm not confident.

I know my Dad was called up at the beginning of the war. Would have been gone by the end of September? Would it have been that quick?

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Anstey Nomad

I know my Dad was called up at the beginning of the war. Would have been gone by the end of September? Would it have been that quick?

Dave's dad was called up but according to his army record his enlistment didn't start until 6 June 1940. He is still with his parents in 1939, redacted, so I've sent a copy of his death cert.

[Mary from Italy]

It's worth taking a close look at the closed entries if you buy a household; my mother's entry's closed, but her married name's legible as it was written above her maiden name, and the black bar doesn't completely hide it.