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Michala Hulme, Lecturer in Public History, University of Birmingham

From divorcees to fuller classrooms, the 1921 census of England and Wales depicts an era of great change

Compared to previous censuses, the 1921 data shows more children in education. Wellcome Collection, CC BY-SA

Nobody is more excited for the release of a census than a genealogist. I have been researching family trees for 20 years and I have seen the release of key documents, including the 1911 census and the 1939 register, which the government used to issue ration books, among other wartime initiatives.

But no documents have received the same hype as the 1921 census of England and Wales, which is now accessible online (for a fee). Alternatively, if you visit the National Archives in London, the Manchester Central Library on St Peter’s Square in Manchester or the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, you can access it for free.

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