Speaker  -  Wendy Shepherd

Why are these important documents? These documents certainly
bridge a gap into the second world war and beyond. Both types
of document offer up interesting researchable information.
The 1921 census is a useful post World War One document,
many showing war widows bringing up families alone.
It is the last available online census at present,
as the 1931 census was destroyed in a fire in WW2 and the
1941 census was never taken as we were at war. 
The 1939 register was an extremely important document
for the government as it identified people of an age
for conscription, plus population numbers for identity cards
and rationing cards, plus the number of children who might
need evacuating. The data was used when the NHS was set
up post war. There is also a column which shows the roles of
many people in WW2; a useful document.