The 1939 Register of England and Wales Has Launched!

A few days ago, I posted a blog about the 1939 Register. The database launched today with much fanfare. Following is an excerpt from an interesting article posted November 1 at the DailyMail website.

It is a remarkable snapshot of a nation plunged into war.

Dubbed The Wartime Domesday Book, the record of Britain in 1939 will go online for the first time this week.

It lists the entire population of England and Wales, from King George VI to ‘general labourers’ and ‘coal hewers’, two common occupations of the day.

The typical 1939 woman was Mary Smith, a 35-year-old housewife – or ‘unpaid domestic worker’, as it was amusingly listed then.

The average man was called William or John and was 33. He was either a ‘general labourer or coal hewer’, although the most popular profession was ‘retired’.

Read the full article.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s maternal great-grandma Eliza Chandler was a widow and ‘food packer’ in Middlesex according to her entry.
The Duchess of Cambridge’ (Kate Middleton) maternal great-grandma Eliza Chandler was a widow and ‘food packer’ in Middlesex according to her entry.

About Leland Meitzler

Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company (www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com), writes daily at GenealogyBlog.com, writes the weekly Genealogy Newsline, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour to the Family History Library, and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

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