... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the destruction
was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to the debris? There
must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the 1921 was 8 million housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to landfill? Fertiliser? What?
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the destruction
was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to the debris? There
must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the 1921 was 8 million housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to landfill? Fertiliser? What?
On 02/11/2021 11:30, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:[]
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the
destruction was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to
the debris? There must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the
1921 was 8 million housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to >>landfill? Fertiliser? What?
from
https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/questions/9808/do-any-fragments-of-t >he-1931-census-of-england-wales-survive
He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it would
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the >Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they
think desirable".
On Tue, 2 Nov 2021 at 12:07:43, john <john1@s145802280.onlinehome.fr>
wrote (my responses usually follow points raised):
On 02/11/2021 11:30, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:[]
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a >>>furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the >>>destruction was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to
the debris? There must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the
1921 was 8 million housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to >>>landfill? Fertiliser? What?
from >>https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/questions/9808/do-any-fragments-of-t >>he-1931-census-of-england-wales-survive
He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it would
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the >>Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they
think desirable".
Yes, that's the letter I've seen (it's cited at great length in >https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/+/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=1931_Census
as well - thanks John).
I'm just wondering what the "Office of Works" _did_ actually do with it
all.
I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened _should_ have been better >investigated, even if there _was_ a war on! (The fire was _not_ caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't >think how that would help the enemy.])
Could form part of a novel: did someone want something that was in it to
be unfindable? (If so, what - just that he was living with someone, or
more nefarious?)
I'd also forgotten - or didn't know - that the Scottish part survived,
as it was in Edinburgh (the fire was in Hayes). So, presumably, in just
over 10 years' time _that_ one _will_ appear.
On Tue, 2 Nov 2021 12:07:43 +0000, john[]
<john1@s145802280.onlinehome.fr> wrote:
He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it wouldBeing paper, most of the census records probably went up in the air as >combustion products with the "debris" being mostly what was left of
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the >>Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they think >>desirable".
the building itself. I can't find any specific information but the
metal likely went to salvage (but not necessarily used; donated iron
railings were gathered in big piles which often remained unused) while
there would have been lots of bomb craters etc. that the rubble could
have been tipped into if bricks weren't reused.
On 02/11/2021 11:30, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the destruction
was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to the debris? There
must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the 1921 was 8 million
housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to landfill? Fertiliser?
What?
from >https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/questions/9808/do-any-fragments-of-the-1931-census-of-england-wales-survive
On the night of Saturday 19 December 1942, there was a fire at a store
in Hayes, Middlesex. The store, the responsibility of the Office of
Works, contained a large amount of furniture but in addition it
contained the census records for England & Wales for 1931, that is the
whole of the schedules, enumeration books and plans. They were all
completely destroyed.
The fire was not caused by enemy action and the civil servant from the >General Register Office who visited the site a few days later was
bemused as to how a fire "achieved such dimensions in a store in which >special hydrants had been fitted and was said to have been in charge of
a fire guard of 6 paid firewatchers" and that it is "a mystery which
will need investigation".
He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it would
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the >Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they think >desirable".
I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened_should_ have been better investigated, even if there_was_ a war on! (The fire was_not_ caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't think how that would help the ene
On 02/11/2021 14:39, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened_should_Â have been better
investigated, even if there_was_Â a war on! (The fire was_not_Â caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't
think how that would help the ene
There were acts of sabotage by the IRA and others. In their warped
minds they might think destroying any part of the state was justified. Perhaps as some sort of revenge for the loss of Irish records though I
think the IRA themselves were responsible for that.
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