Where were the Royal family living in the 1921 Census?

The Census is a snapshot of life in 1921, even for the Royal family. We learn their ages, places of birth, and who they were living with 100 years ago. To get even more detail, we can check other family history records such as historical newspapers and the 1939 Register. Together, these genealogy records can build a picture of your ancestors.

There truly is no end to the secrets and surprises hidden in the 1921 Census, and now there is no limit to the access you can enjoy - all you need is a Premium subscription.

In the case of the Royals, while King George V and Queen Mary were shown visiting the fictional Downton Abbey in the 2019 film of the same name, 19 June 1921 saw the Royal family overnight at Windsor Castle. The royal Census return was filled in by Sir Derek Keppel, Master of the Household. He’d been in the service of the king since 1893, confirmed by our Royal Household Staff records.

As you might imagine, there were other people staying at Windsor Castle too, from fellow rulers and visiting dignitaries, to servants and equerries.

So, here’s who was bunking with the royals on the night of the 1921 Census for England and Wales.

The Royal family

In 1921, the King of Great Britain and Ireland was George V, grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, son of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. Like his granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, whose family tree you can find here, he was never meant to become king.

His elder brother Albert Victor, the heir to the throne, died in 1892 during an influenza pandemic. George married his brother’s intended, Mary of Teck, in 1893. Overnight, George had become Prince of Wales. When his father Edward VII died in 1910, George ascended as George V.

George was linked by blood to many other European royal houses. He was cousin to both Wilhelm II of Germany and Nicholas II of Russia. The latter was killed in 1918 following the Russian Revolution.

King George appeared at the opening session of the Parliament of Northern Ireland to appeal for conciliation not long after the 1921 Census was taken.  Then in 1922, the King visited First World War cemeteries and memorials in Belgium and France. Throughout the 1921 Census, we can see glimpses of the effects of the Great War, from unemployment and disability, to calls for help.

All of George and Queen Mary’s children appear with the household on the 1921 Census, apart from two. Their fourth son, Prince George, was with the Royal Navy in Malta on the night of the Census.

Their youngest son, Prince John, died two years before the Census following a severe epilepsy seizure aged only 13. He’d been ill for much of his life, though this was only disclosed after his death.

Princess Mary, the only daughter of George and Mary, became the patron of the Not Forgotten Association in 1921.

Edward, Prince of Wales, ascended the throne in 1936 as Edward VIII. During the time of the 1921 Census, Edward was seeing married socialite Freda Dudley Ward.

Elizabeth’s II’s father Albert, later George VI, is recorded too. Aged 25 in 1921, the Duke of York began his courtship of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon around this time.

Just like that, we can build up a picture of their lives. From here, we could explore what else they were doing in 1921, but for now, let’s see who else was living at Windsor Castle on the night of the Census.

Who else was in the Royal household in 1921?

Visiting Windsor Castle on 19 June 1921 was King Alfonso XIII, the 35-year-old King of Spain.

Alfonso married Victoria Eugenie, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, after visiting Edward VII at Buckingham Palace in 1905. This means Alfonso was married to George’s cousin. By 1931, the Spanish Monarchy had been abolished.

Staff such as private secretaries, librarians and equerries also made up the Royal household.

Among the King’s equerries were Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Edward Erskine and Captain Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, who was also assistant private secretary. He was later Private Secretary to the Sovereign, Edward VIII, during the Abdication Crisis of 1936, and then for George VI during the Second World War.

The equerry to the Prince of Wales was Bruce Ogilvy, who was also at Windsor Castle with the Royal family on 19 June 1921.

Where were the other royals in the 1921 Census?

We spotted Queen Alexandra, the Queen Mother, as a widow living with her daughter, Princess Victoria. Alexandra was the wife of King Edward VII and the mother of George V. She was known throughout her life for her fashion sense and charitable work.

Also on the Census were some of the living children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, including Princess Helena Christian, their fifth child, at 78 Pall Mall, with her daughter Helena Victoria.

Princess Louise was the sixth child. A prominent feminist, she was widowed in 1914 and had no children. We found her living at Kensington Palace in 1921.

Their seventh child, Prince Arthur, was living in Bagshot, Surrey, in 1921. He was widowed in 1917. He served as Governor-General of Canada.

Princess Beatrice was the youngest child. By this point, Beatrice is a widow, living with her son Leopold Mountbatten at Clock Court, Kensington. He died the following year aged only 33 following a knee operation. She was a close companion and unofficial secretary of her mother, Queen Victoria.

Her daughter Ena married King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who was living with her nephew the King’s family at Windsor Castle on the night of the Census. Beatrice lost her favourite son, Prince Maurice, during the First Battle of Ypres in 1914. He’d been a lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps.

What about the servants?

There were hundreds of servants in Windsor Castle on the night of the Census. Was your ancestor among them? Take a look, and don’t forget to explore the Royal Household records too.

Valets, chauffeurs, kitchen maids... the Royal household required a skilled team of people to keep it running. We discovered Hubert Bury, the butler at Windsor Castle. We spotted personal dressers to the Queen and Princess Mary, Ada Gertrude Sibley and Annie Mary Matthews.

Douglas Wallace Bruce had the role of the King’s Own Messenger, while Henry Forsyth from Edinburgh was the King’s Piper. Other roles included housekeeper Mrs Amelia Rawlings (a Mrs, though she was unmarried), 1st yeoman of the silver pantry Henry Bryant, and yeoman of the wine cellar William Skene, from Aberdeenshire.

We could continue exploring the lives of the Royal family and those living at Windsor Castle in 1921. But, you have your own stories to find, your own family secrets to uncover.

Share your 1921 Census discoveries with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #1921Census. Where will your past take you?