2021 British Census Questions

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its response to public consultation regarding the 2021 Census of England and Wales.
The report, available at ons.gov.uk/census, comments on a variety of enquiries about the upcoming survey raised by researchers and members of the public with an interest in census data.  The consultation ran from June to August 2015 and received a total of 606 responses from interested groups and individuals.
A number of respondents suggested that the Census should ask residents to provide their place of birth – a question that has not been asked since the 1951 Census.  Unfortunately the question received an overall ‘user requirement’ score of 17 out of 100, and ONS has stated that it will not be included in the upcoming survey, as it demonstrates a “low user need” and raised “concerns around respondent burden and costs relating to collection, response rates and coding”.
The report also states that the 2021 Census will not ask residents to supply their maiden names – another question that had been suggested by family history researchers taking part in the consultation.
2021 Census director Ian Cope commented that while the ONS recognised the genealogical value of census data, there was not enough space to include every single question submitted by the public.

Gloucestershire Prison Records on Ancestry

Prison registers and mugshots from Gloucestershire has been made available online for the first time.
Released by Ancestry on Monday 20th June, the new Gloucestershire Prison Records provides details about individuals who found themselves in prison between 1728 and 1914 and comprises over 235,000 records.
Searchable by name, age, type, date and location of crime, the digitised prison registers cover several different gaols across the county, with many of the records from 1870 onwards accompanied by photographs.
Below is the record of seven-year-old Edgar Kilminster, complete with mugshot, who was arrested along with his brother for stealing sweetmeats.  As a result of his crime, Edgar – who was only 3ft 10in tall – was sentenced to seven days’ hard labour and given “12 strokes with the birch”.

Tipperary Studies Databases

Do you have roots in the Irish county of Tipperary?  The Tipperary Studies website could have useful information now available online for you.
Launched on Saturday 21 May, the new website's Digitization Project provides online access to a wealth of historic records held by the library, including rate books for the Poor Law Unions of Cashel, Nenagh and Thurles (1840s-70s) and Irish Tourist Association Reports (1942-45) for the county’s parishes.  One of the aims of the project is to make these and other information sources held by the Society available to everyone, free of charge.
Tipperary Studies also holds an annual Tipperary People and Places Lecture series throughout the winter months, commencing in October and running through to the following March. Lectures take place on the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm, in the Gallery of the Source Library, Thurles. Each season the Series covers a number of different subjects. The Society also has its own YouTube Channel where videos of past lectures can be viewed.