Searching the 1939 Register

[MaryA]

These are just some tips collected, not a post for discussion - find that on the Off Topic Board.

Use the Advanced search - it will probably save you time
Middle names are not shown, only initials
Closed records are NOT indexed, so will not show up in searches, nor will people who were in army barracks or similar institutions
You'll be asked if you want to 'unlock' the record - this is the point at which 60 credits are deducted; you will then see a transcription of the 'open' entries in the household, and the image of the register page
The register pages are like the enumerators' summaries that we see for the censuses up to 1901 - the entries have been copied from the schedules completed by the householders, so we don't get to see our ancestors' handwriting, but we get the added bonus of the neighbours.
The references displayed are in this format
National Registration Day was 29th September 1939
To open a closed record by uploading a death certificate start from the household transcription, but DON'T click 'Check' if you can open a closed entry. Instead click 'Update the Record', and choose 'Ask us to open a closed record' from the drop down menu. You must have a 12 month Britain or World subscription to be able to do this.

After a few days they removed the Reference from the entry, however if you hover your mouse over 'Unlock this Household' you can read it at the bottom of your screen.
Letter Code also seems to be unavailable any more, but I'm including this in case you find it somewhere else or they resume including it.
- Ref: RG101/4411h/005/25 Letter Code: ????
where RG101 is the National Archives reference for the 1939 Register (doesn't change)
* 4411h is the piece number
* 005 is the item number
- 36 is the line number on the page - again it's not shown, but you can count down
- The Letter Code refers to the Registration District - there's a guide to these codes at http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blo ... mber-1939/
You're also given the Schedule Number and Schedule Sub-Number but can't search using this information; people in the same household have the same Schedule Number (the Sub-Number is the line on the Schedule, usually 1,2,3,4 etc)
Make a note of the references - they'll enable you to find the page again instantly
* The piece number and the item number are the two bits of information you need to enter at the bottom of the 'Advanced' search, without any further information, in order to see the other family members and neighbours listed

If you know your ancestor's birthday you can use it to narrow your search, there won't be too many people of the same name with that exact birth date.

Try searching with the occupation too.

On the 'Advanced' search you can use either the 'Person' or 'Address' tab. First of all choose the 'Person' tab and using some of the suggestions above try to narrow down your ancestor from the list.
Enter what you know in the 'Borough/District' box - ie Liverpool.
Begin to enter the alphabet in the 'Street' box. Once you get a hit you will know the first letter of the address, then continue with the second letter and so on. A streetmap of around that date or a check of the 1938 Directory may be a help here.
Once you have the street name, go over to the 'Address' tab and enter the information in the 'Borough/District' and the 'Street'
The result will have an 'Addresses' button at the end and choosing this will list the house numbers. The 'Preview' will show you the name of the household. Again check the reference by hovering over 'Unlock this household' to see if it matches YOUR ancestor.