Skip to main content

News

The 1921 census solves a family mystery

  • 18th April 2025

This is the third blog in the series on how members of staff have used the recently released 1921 census to further their own research. This is Julia’s story.

We all have our family mysteries; those stories you half remember from childhood, but didn’t ask questions about at the time, and now it’s too late.

My father used to speak about his ‘cousin Les’, but we never met ‘Les’ or knew any more about him, other than we guessed that he had been born to one of my grandfather’s unmarried sisters.

We had always assumed it was his eldest sister, who emigrated to Australia. A man we met years later though, who had known the family, said no, it was the second sister, and her elder sister had ‘covered’ for her.

I tried to find a birth, but there were several possibilities and, as I didn’t have a middle name, no way of knowing which was mine without sending for the birth certificates.

When the 1921 census was released, it was my chance to see if I could find him.

Sure enough, he is there, living with my great grandmother. I now knew his full name and year he was born, so could send for his birth certificate. When it arrived, it showed we were all wrong; his mother was the youngest of the sisters.

Further research on Ancestry showed he had a ‘complicated’ life and had emigrated to Australia. Mystery solved.

Now all I need to do is find out what happened to his mother… One of the many joys of family history, is there is always more to find out!

2 responses to “The 1921 census solves a family mystery”

  1. Angela Jenkins says:

    Great!
    I wish we could find the origins of my husband’s grandad so easily.!

    • Carol Wood says:

      On this occasion Julia was very lucky, but she has been plugging away at family history for very many years.
      Whilst we cannot do research for customers, all our staff have been working on our family trees for years. Someone may be able to make a suggestion of where to look next. You are welcome to put an enquiry on our website: https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/contact-us/

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related news


  • 27th August 2025
The 1921 census and its insight into rural life

In our latest blog about the 1921 census, the story of Alvie’s family gives a fascinating insight into life in rural Lincolnshire. Both sides of my family have lived in rural Lincolnshire for centuries. In 1921 most of my relatives were living around the villages of Benington and Leverton in South Lincolnshire, which is about...

  • 26th August 2025
Women, War and Bankruptcy

Amongst the Magistrate Court records held with us on behalf of Worcestershire County Council as part of The Public Records Act are Bankruptcy records from the early 20th century. Whilst they detail the financial situation of individuals and businesses, individual case files which are outside the 100-year closure period can provide insight into the circumstances...

  • 21st August 2025
Newspapers online

Excellent News! Your wait is nearly over – our newspaper collections is set to return! Not only that but, thanks to our partnership with Ancestry.com, our  collection has been digitised and there is free access to it from The Hive via newspapers.com. Unless you want to, gone are the days of having to search date...