What is the 1939 Register and how do I use it?
/
Records & Sources
What is the 1939 Register and how do I use it?
The 1939 Register of England and Wales is a personal favourite as it helped break one of my longest standing brick walls in my personal research. It is one of the most useful records available to anyone researching twentieth-century British family history. The register was taken on 29 September 1939, just weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War, and it covers the entire civilian population of England and Wales.
Why the 1939 Register matters
Between the 1921 census and the next available census for England and Wales, there is a gap of thirty years. The 1931 census was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and the 1941 census was never taken. With the 1951 census not scheduled for release until 2052, that leaves three decades of family history with no national population survey to fall back on.
The 1939 Register does not fill that gap entirely, but it is certainly better than nothing. Around 41 million civilians were recorded, making it the most complete survey of the population of England and Wales between 1921 and 1951. If your ancestor was alive in September 1939 and living in England or Wales, they are almost certainly in it.
What it contains
Each entry in the Register records: full name, address, date of birth, sex, marital status and occupation. It was compiled by householders completing a schedule, much like a census form, with one important difference: it records exact dates of birth rather than ages, which is incredibly useful.
One thing it does not record is place of birth. Unlike the census, where birthplace is one of the most genealogically valuable columns, the 1939 Register gives you no indication of where an ancestor was born. For that you still need a census or the birth certificate.
Worth noting: The Register was a living document. It was used to issue identity cards and later to manage rationing, so entries were updated as circumstances changed. You may find annotations recording marriages, name changes and deaths added after the original registration date. These can be useful in their own right.
The closed records
You will notice that some entries in the Register are covered by a black line. These are records of individuals born less than 100 years ago whose death has not been registered. They remain closed to protect the privacy of anyone who may still be alive. As deaths are registered, the records are progressively released, and the platforms hosting the Register update their collections regularly. If you cannot see a record today, it may be available in a few months.
Practical tip: If you know when a relative died but their record is still closed, it is worth contacting Findmypast directly. They hold the official version of the Register and can sometimes unlock a record more quickly when proof of death can be provided.
Where to find it
The 1939 Register is available on several platforms. Findmypast is the official online home of the Register, in partnership with The National Archives, and holds the original images alongside a searchable index. Ancestry has its own transcription and images. The Genealogist and MyHeritage both hold transcriptions but not images. If you want to see the original handwritten page, Findmypast or Ancestry are the places to go.
FamilySearch also holds an index linked to the Findmypast images, which is useful if you want to check quickly whether a record exists before committing to a search on a subscription platform.
Search tip: The Register was arranged by address rather than by name, so if you know where an ancestor was living in 1939 you can search by address and see the whole household. This is particularly useful for finding relatives who do not appear in name searches due to transcription errors.
How to use it alongside other records
The 1939 Register works best when used in combination with the census and civil registration records. A typical research sequence might be: find someone in the 1921 census, use the 1939 Register to confirm where they were living and what they were doing eighteen years later, then use the exact date of birth from the Register to locate their birth certificate.
The occupation recorded in 1939 can also be useful for directing you to other record sets. Someone recorded as a merchant seaman, a miner or a railway worker may appear in occupational records that add considerably to what you know about their life.
Next in this series: Parish registers in England and Wales: what survives and where to find it. Before civil registration in 1837 the Church of England was the main record keeper for births, marriages and deaths, and those registers are essential for tracing ancestors into the eighteenth century and beyond.
Ready to find your story?
The first conversation is free. No obligation, no jargon, just an honest chat about what is possible.
