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The Great Lafayette in the 1911 census

Calling all family history super sleuths! Can anybody tell us what is recorded in the infirmity column of this 1911 census return?

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Astonishing 1911 census find – Emily Davison in Parliament's crypt

This morning, after months of searching, we finally came across an astonishing historical document in the 1911 census. Emily Davison, the suffragette who was to die in 1913 after throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom derby, is famously said to have secreted herself in the House of Commons at the time of the 1911 Census in order to have herself enumerated within Westminster.

We have now uncovered the actual historical documents that prove this is the case and will perhaps throw some more light on this key moment in parliamentary history. The event is considered to be such a landmark event in British politics that a plaque was secretly installed in Parliament in honour of her rebellious act  by Tony Benn, with the aid of Helena Kennedy QC and Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.

We had already found Emily Davison on the census listed at her boarding house, but had wanted for some time to discover how much truth there was in the parliament story. Thinking laterally, we realised that there was a possibility that she had been incorrectly recorded, and decided to try searching for her using the “variants” search on the findmypast.co.uk 1911 Census search. This search not only looks at exact names searched for, but also looks for common variants of names.

Sure enough, when we repeated the search with the surname variants search on and allowing a few more years flexibility than her actual age at the time of the census, she immediately appeared listed as Emily Wilding Davidson (note the extra D in her surname). Most astonishingly, her address was listed on the census transcript as “Found Hiding in Crypt of Westminster Hall Westminster”.

Emily Davison on the findmypast.co.uk 1911 census

Click here to view the full size image

Intrigued, we decided to look at the original documents. First of all, we looked at the RG14 Household page – this has been signed by the Clerk of Works at the House of Commons, a Mr Percy Ridge (for a bit of fun, you can also find him in the 1911 census, living in South London).

1911 census Household form filled in by the Clerk of Works

Click here to view the full size image.

We can see that Ridge’s handwriting only records Emily’s name (spelt wrongly), age (3 or 4 years off her actual age) and marital status. Somebody else (likely to be the enumerator – the handwriting looks very similar) has filled in her occupation and place of birth. It is notable that both of these bits of information are wrong too – Davison had given up full-time teaching in 1909 to concentrate on her work for the Women’s Social and Political Union and her birth was registered in Greenwich, not Northumberland (Davison’s mother, however, had been born in Morpeth, Northumberland).

So now on to the back of the household form, to see where this extraordinary address from the transcription had come from.

address panel from the household form

Click here for full size image

Sure enough, Ridge has put her address as “found hiding in the crypt of Westminster Hall since Saturday” There’s also a note at the top which says “apply Common Row police station for more information”.

So finally, a quick look at the Enumerator’s Summary to see whether she succeeded in her aim of being enumerated at Westminster.

The enumerator's summary listing her as sole occupant of the crypt

Click here for full size image

Sure enough, she has been enumerated as the sole occupant of the Crypt in the “Houses of Parliament”.

A few interesting lessons for family historians in this discovery:

1. Think laterally when searching for names and dates of birth and allow for wide margins of error even if you think you have the exact information
2. Use the “variants” search on findmypast.co.uk – it really is a powerful piece of technology!

Emily Davison, we salute you, and are proud and humbled to have found the documents that record your astonishing census night 99 years later.

If any of our readers can shed any further light on this astonishing find, we’d be delighted for you to add notes and observations in the comments below.

Astonishing 1911 census find – Emily Davison in Parliament’s crypt

This morning, after months of searching, we finally came across an astonishing historical document in the 1911 census. Emily Davison, the suffragette who was to die in 1913 after throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom derby, is famously said to have secreted herself in the House of Commons at the time of the 1911 Census in order to have herself enumerated within Westminster.

We have now uncovered the actual historical documents that prove this is the case and will perhaps throw some more light on this key moment in parliamentary history. The event is considered to be such a landmark event in British politics that a plaque was secretly installed in Parliament in honour of her rebellious act  by Tony Benn, with the aid of Helena Kennedy QC and Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.

We had already found Emily Davison on the census listed at her boarding house, but had wanted for some time to discover how much truth there was in the parliament story. Thinking laterally, we realised that there was a possibility that she had been incorrectly recorded, and decided to try searching for her using the “variants” search on the findmypast.co.uk 1911 Census search. This search not only looks at exact names searched for, but also looks for common variants of names.

Sure enough, when we repeated the search with the surname variants search on and allowing a few more years flexibility than her actual age at the time of the census, she immediately appeared listed as Emily Wilding Davidson (note the extra D in her surname). Most astonishingly, her address was listed on the census transcript as “Found Hiding in Crypt of Westminster Hall Westminster”.

Emily Davison on the findmypast.co.uk 1911 census

Click here to view the full size image

Intrigued, we decided to look at the original documents. First of all, we looked at the RG14 Household page – this has been signed by the Clerk of Works at the House of Commons, a Mr Percy Ridge (for a bit of fun, you can also find him in the 1911 census, living in South London).

1911 census Household form filled in by the Clerk of Works

Click here to view the full size image.

We can see that Ridge’s handwriting only records Emily’s name (spelt wrongly), age (3 or 4 years off her actual age) and marital status. Somebody else (likely to be the enumerator – the handwriting looks very similar) has filled in her occupation and place of birth. It is notable that both of these bits of information are wrong too – Davison had given up full-time teaching in 1909 to concentrate on her work for the Women’s Social and Political Union and her birth was registered in Greenwich, not Northumberland (Davison’s mother, however, had been born in Morpeth, Northumberland).

So now on to the back of the household form, to see where this extraordinary address from the transcription had come from.

address panel from the household form

Click here for full size image

Sure enough, Ridge has put her address as “found hiding in the crypt of Westminster Hall since Saturday” There’s also a note at the top which says “apply Common Row police station for more information”.

So finally, a quick look at the Enumerator’s Summary to see whether she succeeded in her aim of being enumerated at Westminster.

The enumerator's summary listing her as sole occupant of the crypt

Click here for full size image

Sure enough, she has been enumerated as the sole occupant of the Crypt in the “Houses of Parliament”.

A few interesting lessons for family historians in this discovery:

1. Think laterally when searching for names and dates of birth and allow for wide margins of error even if you think you have the exact information
2. Use the “variants” search on findmypast.co.uk – it really is a powerful piece of technology!

Emily Davison, we salute you, and are proud and humbled to have found the documents that record your astonishing census night 99 years later.

If any of our readers can shed any further light on this astonishing find, we’d be delighted for you to add notes and observations in the comments below.

Today’s youth ‘work-shy and lazy’ study finds

Findmypast.co.uk has just carried out a survey which has revealed that young Brits shy away from jobs that require hard graft and instead, one in six 18-24 year olds aspire to become a famous singer, actor or member of a band.

There has never been such a stark contrast between the career choices of today’s young people when compared to the manual jobs of their ancestors. In the 1911 census some of the most popular occupations recorded include working in domestic service, agriculture, mining, building and the cotton industry. In contrast, less than 1% of young Brits in the 21st century would like to have a manual job such as a builder or plumber.

Here you can see a 1911 census return for singer Tom Jones’ maternal grandparents, Albert Rees and Ada Jones, who were in the coal-mining industry. Jones is Tom’s stage rather than birth surname.

Click to enlarge

Debra Chatfield

Our marketing manager, Debra Chatfield (pictured right), says: “It seems the growing obsession with celebrity has really impacted on young people’s career choices these days, as our study reveals how the more non-traditional jobs now come high up on the wish-list.

“Times have certainly changed when it comes to young people’s career choices. A look at the 1911 census provides a fascinating insight into the professions of our ancestors and you can really see how times have dramatically changed. On the other hand, in some cases, it can be interesting to see how some families have carried the same profession down through the family tree to the modern day. In our recent study it was revealed that, worryingly, a fifth (22%) of those aged 18-24 years do not know what their ancestors did for a living.”

Find out what your ancestors did in our complete census records from 1841 to 1911.

Today's youth 'work-shy and lazy' study finds

Findmypast.co.uk has just carried out a survey which has revealed that young Brits shy away from jobs that require hard graft and instead, one in six 18-24 year olds aspire to become a famous singer, actor or member of a band.

There has never been such a stark contrast between the career choices of today’s young people when compared to the manual jobs of their ancestors. In the 1911 census some of the most popular occupations recorded include working in domestic service, agriculture, mining, building and the cotton industry. In contrast, less than 1% of young Brits in the 21st century would like to have a manual job such as a builder or plumber.

Here you can see a 1911 census return for singer Tom Jones’ maternal grandparents, Albert Rees and Ada Jones, who were in the coal-mining industry. Jones is Tom’s stage rather than birth surname.

Click to enlarge

Debra Chatfield

Our marketing manager, Debra Chatfield (pictured right), says: “It seems the growing obsession with celebrity has really impacted on young people’s career choices these days, as our study reveals how the more non-traditional jobs now come high up on the wish-list.

“Times have certainly changed when it comes to young people’s career choices. A look at the 1911 census provides a fascinating insight into the professions of our ancestors and you can really see how times have dramatically changed. On the other hand, in some cases, it can be interesting to see how some families have carried the same profession down through the family tree to the modern day. In our recent study it was revealed that, worryingly, a fifth (22%) of those aged 18-24 years do not know what their ancestors did for a living.”

Find out what your ancestors did in our complete census records from 1841 to 1911.

1911 Census available on subscription in October

English counties complete on 1911census.co.uk

Overnight, we have uploaded records for the remaining English Counties (Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland) and added the missing Gateshead district records into the county of Durham (they were incorrectly listed as part of Northumberland – this is now fixed and they are searchable under Durham, as they should be). These are now available on our sister site 1911census.co.uk.

Therefore all English counties are now complete.

Scanning of Welsh records is well underway and we are working on the transcriptions of the first batch of Welsh counties, which will be the next data release. Although we do not have a precise release date for them yet, we anticipate that we will have some data from Wales available in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Findmypast.com users can sign in to the 1911census.co.uk site using their findmypast sign in details but the records are only searchable using PayAsYouGo credits.

1911census.co.uk – 1.9 million new records

Three new areas are now complete and have been added to the 1911 census: the county of Durham, and the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire – an addition of 1.9 million records. The records are already live and can be searched immediately.

Search for your ancestors on the 1911 census now

If you have an ancestor in Gateshead – please bear with us. Due to a peculiarity in the administration of the 1911 census, the area was enumerated as part of Northumberland, rather than with Durham, and the records will be added as part of Northumberland in accordance with the way the census was taken.

The three remaining English counties: Cumberland, Northumberland and Westmorland will be added shortly.

You can use your findmypast.com sign in details on the 1911census.co.uk website and your findmypast.com PayAsYouGo credits are also valid. Please make sure you sign out of findmypast.com before you sign in to 1911census.co.uk.

findmypast.com at WDYTYA Live

We had a fantastic time at the WhoDoYouThinkYouAre LIVE! show – many thanks to those of you that came to say hello and ask us questions about the service. We only wish we had had more time to talk to you all!

For those that could not make it, we will post our presentation from the 1911 classroom  (which covered how to use the 1911 census and findmypast.com to start building your family tree) on the blog soon.

In the meantime, there are a few more photos available : click on any photo below to get to them.

findmypast.com at WhoDoYouThinkYouAre LIVE