Mr Etchells, the Wakefield man behind the early release of the 1911 census for England and Wales, is appealing to the Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act to unlock details from the 1939 National Registration of the UK – an emergency, census-like survey of the country at the beginning of the war. These records will be useful due to the fact that after the 1921 census will be the last census records fro another 40 years! The 1931 census was destroyed in a fire and there was no survey taken in 1941 because of the war.
I took up Genealogy mainly to try and find living releatives on my father’s side but in the course of doing so have also covered a lot of family history. In the course of some four or five years, I have found just one person who unfortunately does not seem prepared to communicate. Challenges like Mr Etchells’ will help me find new family members.
Of course, the Wakefield emphersis is deliberate. I wonder if our families are connected 
. Let’s hope the Commissioner is kind and gives genealogists a nice Christmas present.