For anyone who missed the news – the 1911 Census went online on Tuesday 13 January 2009.  I had a quick look at the site and it doesn’t seem to be having the same problems that the 1901 Census had when it crashed under the demand from users.  The 1911 Census has been released a couple of years early due to demand from family historians all over the world.  The only things that have been kept back to the 100 years rule are the medical conditions. There are some temporary restrictions to access and down loads but these are only to allow the site to become established and get going full access will be allowed later in the year.  Apart from this all the usual information – names, dates of birth, locations and occupations are all there.  The only drawn back is the charges – although these are not too expensive and are claimed to be in line with the charges for the 1901 Census– but these charges can easily add up if you do lots of searches and prints.  The 1911 Census is free to search the index for names – you only need to pay to view the transcripts @ 10 credits – or to view the original page which is @ 30 credits.  1 credit costs approximately 10-12p each – so it is £1.20 to get a transcript or £3.50 to £4.00 get a download of the original page.  Prices vary with volume – the more credits you buy the cheaper they get!  I have to say the site is very easy to use and the search takes only seconds.  The transcripts are very good and the quality of the original pages is excellent – when printed on a good colour printer they look almost like real original documents.  I was able to test the beta version before the go live date last year and it does not seem to have any of the problems that the 1901 site suffered from – I found it to be excellent.  Why not get in touch and let us know how you got on with the 1911 Census.
The BBC has been running a new series of “Who do you think you are?” and there have been some interesting family trees of famous people presented.  This series seems to have had some more interesting family skeletons – I hope you were able to see any of the series.  Maybe it has got you interest in your own family tree – why not get in touch and tell what you are looking for – if we can help we will try to do our best to help.
Please do not forget the Annual General Meeting of the Society – which this year is at the Cadman Suite at the Village Hall in Pinfold Lane on Thursday 2nd April 2009 at 7:30pm.

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