11/01/2025
In case you didn’t know, the 1921 Census of England and Wales is now on Ancestry.com.au! It’s packed with details about nearly 38 million people from that time.
You can uncover cool insights about your ancestors, like their handwritten entries, who they lived with, where they were born, their ages, jobs, employers, and even their marital status. Fun fact: this was the first census to include the name and address of someone’s employer!
Interestingly, this census was taken in July during the summer holidays, so you might even find records of your ancestors on holiday or staying somewhere unusual.
Taken just after World War I, the 1921 Census shows how society was shifting. There were more widowed women, a big gender imbalance (1.7 million more women than men!), and it highlights how women were stepping into jobs traditionally done by men.
It’s also a goldmine for tracing family members who might have emigrated after 1921, especially with the Empire Settlement Act of 1922, which sparked migration to places like Australia and Canada.
