What Is The 1939 Register?

Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom in 1939

Adult Identity Card - 1943

The National Registration Act 1939 (2 & 3 Geo. Six c. 91) was an Human activity of Parliament in the United kingdom.^[ane] The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament every bit an emergency measure at the start of the 2d Globe War.

The Deed established a National Register which began operating on 29 September 1939 (National Registration Mean solar day), a system of identity cards, and a requirement that they must be produced on demand or presented to a police station within 48 hours.

Importance of the 1939 register [edit]

The register is particularly important for genealogists because:

• The 1921 Census was only made available online in January 2022.^[ii]
• The 1931 census records for England and Wales were destroyed by fire during the 2nd World State of war.^[3]
• No demography was undertaken during 1941.^[4]
• The register records the precise date of birth of those registered.^[v]

The lack of both the 1931 and 1941 census means that the Register provides the most complete survey of the population of England and Wales between 1921 and 1951, making it an invaluable resources for family, social and local historians. ^[3] In fact, until the 1921 census was available, the 1939 Annals was the well-nigh complete publicly available detailed record of the population of England and Wales since 1911.

Unlike the decennial censuses, the 1939 Register was designed every bit a working document for the duration of the war, and it was later used in the foundation of the National Wellness Service. It therefore records individuals built-in after 1939 equally well equally subsequent changes of name, notably in the case of single women who married after 1939.^{[5] [half-dozen]}

Second Earth War Identity Cards [edit]

Every man, woman and kid had to carry an identity (ID) card at all times and the cards would include the following information:

• Name
• Sex
• Age, nevertheless, the enumerators did not collect the age as was the norm for the decennial census, but the actual date of nascency.^[5]
• Occupation, profession, trade or employment. The Annals had also collected information on the role of persons in institutions, indicated past the initial letter of the terms Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient, or Inmate.^[3]
• Address
• Marital status
• Membership of Naval, Military or Air Strength Reserves or Auxiliary Forces or of Civil Defence Services or Reserves.

The register differed from the decennial census in a number of ways, one of which was the place of nascency was not recorded, and the second was that the annals was meant to be a living document.^[5] Hence, perusal of the annals shows that maiden surnames take been replaced by married surnames when registered persons later married.

65,000 enumerators across the country delivered forms ahead of the chosen twenty-four hour period. On Friday 29 September 1939, householders were required to record details on the registration forms. On the following Sunday and Mon the enumerators visited every householder, checked the class and so issued a completed identity menu for each of the residents. All cards at this time were the same brown/buff color. Some 45 one thousand thousand identity cards were issued.^[5] The estimate of the population of England and Wales for 1939 was 41.465 1000000 sectional of ground forces, navy and merchant seamen abroad,^[7] and some sources record the register as^{[ description needed ]}then the figure of 45 million may include the members of the armed services abroad or in Scotland.

Three chief reasons for the introduction of the identity cards were:

• 1. The major dislocation of the population acquired by mobilisation and mass evacuation and also the wartime demand for consummate manpower control and planning in social club to maximise the efficiency of the war economic system.
• 2. The likelihood of rationing (introduced from January 1940 onwards).
• 3. Population statistics. As the last census had been held in 1931, there was picayune accurate data on which to base vital planning decisions. The National Annals was in fact an instant census and the National Registration Act closely resembles the Demography Act 1920 in many ways.

1943 (Blue) Identity Card [edit]

The more than commonly found greenish version of the identity card (not the image shown) was issued in 1943 for adults. Until then, adult identity cards had been a buff (an off yellowish) coloured card, non the same colour as children'south cards, which was a manila coloured (brown) carte du jour. Regime officials had light-green ID cards with endorsements, and a photograph. Whilst those in the military, or temporary displaced persons were issued with a 'Blue' version of the identification cards.

Children nether 16 were issued with Identity Cards, just they were to exist kept by their parents.

Identification was necessary if families were separated from one another or their house was bombed, and if people were injured or killed.

The sections in the card showing the change in accost were important, as many people moved several times during the war.

Class Codes [edit]

Class Codes were used for administration and electoral purposes. Cards were marked A, B, C, N or V.

• A: Aged over 21
• B: Aged betwixt sixteen and 21

Additionally, all class lawmaking 'B' cards were followed by three numbers. The first two indicated the yr in which the holder was born whilst the third indicated which quarter of the yr the holder was born in. For example, B. 252 would bear witness that the holder was born in the second quarter of 1925 and would also indicate to a polling clerk that the holder would attain adult status in the second quarter of 1946 (i.e. reach the age of 21).

• C: Appeared on xanthous cards issued to workers from 'Eire' (Ireland) who were conditionally admitted to Great United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.
• N: Cards re-issued under an altered proper name.^{[notes 1] [8]}
• V: Placed on yellow cards issued to people over 16 arriving in this country who declared that they were usually resident outside the Great britain.

Temporary buff cards were issued to children under xvi but did not bear a class code.

Repeal of the Human activity [edit]

On 21 February 1952, it ceased to be necessary to carry an identity card. The National Registration Human activity of 1939 was repealed on 22 May 1952. The final person prosecuted under the Act was Harry Willcock. Even after the National Registration system was abandoned in 1952, the National Registration number persisted, existence used within the National Health Service, for voter registration, and for the National Insurance system.^[ix]

Access to information [edit]

The records created under the National Registration Human action are held by The National Archives but were not freely attainable to the public for many years.^[10] From 2010, field of study to restrictions to safeguard the privacy of people who are or may still be living, information could be obtained from the NHS Information Centre about specific individuals for a fee.^[11] The National Archives has now entered into an agreement under which the original documents for England and Wales have been digitised and scanned and are available (subject to privacy restrictions) on the subscription-based Findmypast and Ancestry.com websites.^[12] The digital images can also exist viewed at The National Archives themselves in their reading room.^[13]

See also [edit]

• NHS number
• Identity Cards Act 2006
• Rayner Goddard, Baron Goddard
• Defense force Regulations
• Timeline of the Great britain dwelling house forepart during World War Two

Notes [edit]

1. ^ In that location was no requirement to use the registered proper name in everyday life. In accordance with long-standing English exercise, the use of aliases was permitted.

References [edit]

1. ^ National Registration Human activity, 1939. Rootsweb.com. URL accessed one March 2008.
2. ^ "The United kingdom 1921 Census". UK Census Online . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "1939 Register". The National Archives . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
4. ^ Jonathan Scott (28 February 2017). A Dictionary of Family History: The Genealogists' ABC. Pen & Sword Books. p. 53. ISBN978-1-4738-9254-5 . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
5. ^ ^{a b c d eastward} Peter Christian; David Annal (14 Baronial 2014). Census: The Family Historian's Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 71–72. ISBN978-1-4729-0294-8 . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
6. ^ Hammond, Linda. "The hidden secrets of the 1939 National Register of England & Wales". Retrieved four January 2022.
7. ^ 1000. Epstein (28 December 2016). The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1942. Springer. pp. 77–. ISBN978-0-230-27071-8.
8. ^ Edward Higgs (half-dozen October 2011). Identifying the English: A History of Personal Identification 1500 to the Present. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 154. ISBN978-1-4411-3801-9 . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
9. ^ Edward Higgs (vi October 2011). Identifying the English: A History of Personal Identification 1500 to the Nowadays. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 156. ISBN978-1-4411-3801-nine . Retrieved 25 June 2020.
10. ^ World War 2: 'Wartime Domesday' book showing life in 1939 to be fabricated publicly available online. The Independent, 1 November 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
11. ^ "NHS IC launches the 1939 Annals Service". Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
12. ^ "The 1939 Register".
13. ^ "National Archives: Help with research". Retrieved viii August 2018.

External links [edit]

• Select Committee on Domicile Affairs 4th Report, 20 July 2004
• Michael Caines, Identity crisis, Times Online, xi April 2006
• Nick Cohen, Blunkett's identity crisis, The Observer, thirty June 2002
• Jon Agar, Identity cards in Britain: past feel and policy implications
• Privacy International, History of ID Cards in the United Kingdom, ane January 1997
• Statewatch, Identity cards in the UK - a lesson from history
• The 1939 National Identity Menu

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939

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