How to access the 1921 Census of England and Wales
Researcher
Thu Aug 14 2025
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< 5 minutes read
Whether you're filling in gaps on your family tree or discovering a relative's life story for the first time, here's how to explore the treasure trove that is the 1921 Census online.
Search the 1921 Census online
Findmypast digitised the 1921 Census of England and Wales in collaboration with The National Archives, making it publicly available for the first time.
Taken on 19 June 1921, the census consists of over 38 million individual census returns. It provides a thorough snapshot of the British population in the interwar period and is an important resource for family history researchers.
How to search the 1921 Census on Findmypast
You can explore the 1921 Census and understand your ancestors' lives in more detail on the family history website Findmypast. Simply head to their 1921 Census search page and input all the information you know. A name and rough birth date is all you need, though you can narrow your search results down by adding a location, keywords or the names of other family members.
Far more than just names and addresses, you'll find important information within each census return. For each household member included, you can expect to learn:
- Age in years and months
- Full address
- Marital status
- Occupation and employer details (or if they're in education)
- Relationship to the head of the household
- Place of birth for each person
- Children, stepchildren and adopted children
- Details on those temporarily away from home
The 1921 Census was the first British census to include a question asking for an employer and place of work. This means it provides a key insight into our ancestors' working lives – you may be able to deduce their social class, and how far they travelled to their job.
Can I access 1921 Census records for free?
With Findmypast, you can search for ancestors in the 1921 Census for free. However, you'll need to take out a free trial or purchase a subscription to explore your search results in full.
Be sure to explore original record images
As part of the digitisation process, each 1921 Census return has been transcribed for easy readability. You may get the information you're looking for from the transcription, but viewing the original census images is where the magic really happens.
On the original image, you'll see your ancestor’s handwriting, as it was the head of the household who filled out the census form. You can read the exact words they used and discover details that may have been missed on the transcription. Perhaps they made a note and crossed it out or spoiled their form to voice political dissent, as many ardent suffragettes did in 1911.
Every 1921 record image offers a slice of life in 1921: babies just months old, war widows, and wealthy estates with servants. Each household is a part of the wider mosaic of British history in this period - a population marked by social change, political unrest and the tragedy of the First World War.
Why is the 1921 Census of England and Wales important for ancestry research?
The 1921 Census bridges a major gap in British family history, as it’s the last British census available until 2051.
The 1931 Census was destroyed in a fire, and the 1941 Census wasn’t taken due to the Second World War. This means that the 1921 Census is the only surviving snapshot of England and Wales between 1911 and 1951; a transformative period which saw social, political and economic change.
Whether you're looking for a great-grandparent, tracing who lived in your house or exploring community life in the 1920s, the 1921 Census can help you to delve deeper into the past.
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