1921 UK Census

The 1921 Census of England and Wales provides a dynamic snapshot of England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands after the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Communities across the nation were still recovering from these global events and post-war economic changes within the country.

The 1921 census is even more critical when you consider that the 1931 Census in England and Wales was destroyed by fire (in December 1942), and the Second World War meant no census took place in 1941. For family history researchers, this gap in census records makes the 1921 Census very significant, as it may record key milestones in your family’s history.

Consulting the 1921 Census can show how your family navigated this challenging post-war period. For example, you might discover the exact location of an ancestor who moved for work, remarried after wartime loss, or welcomed a relative's orphaned child into their home.

Starting Your Family History Research with the 1921 Census

If you’re new to family history research, a good place to begin is with the most recent census records—1921—and then work your way back in time.

The UK census collection on Ancestry^® includes records for these locations:

• 1921 England Census
• 1921 Wales Census
• 1921 Channel Islands Census
• 1921 Isle of Man Census

As with the 1911 Census, details found in the 1921 Census can expand your understanding of family members’ lives at that point in time. For example, you can find:

• Descriptions of relationships—how an individual is related to the head of the household
• More specific ages for everyone in the household, as the field for 1921 now records ages in terms of years and months; the age was calculated by the census date of 19 June 1921
• Marital status, length of marriage, and the number of children born within that marriage
• For those employed, their occupation and the industry in which they work
• The birthplace of each family member
• The handwriting and signature of the ancestor who filled out the form

However, additional information was gathered for the 1921 Census that can provide fresh insights into your family’s story.

Note: Irish returns were not taken in 1921. The 1921 returns for Scotland are available through the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

What Makes the 1921 Census Unique?

Specific recorded details set the 1921 Census apart from earlier surveys in England, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Unlike previous censuses, enumerators in 1921 gathered more contextual information that could point to the after effects of the Great War, shifting job prospects, and new social norms.

Two key enhancements to the 1921 Census of England and Wales:

• Employer names and workplace addresses: These help determine whether someone had employment through a named firm or operated as an independent tradesperson from home. Employers' names and addresses typically appear on individual entries, making it easy to follow a relative's career path. If you see "Colliery Hewer at Rhondda Colliery" or "Typist at Smith & Co., Cardiff," you can cross-reference with other records or newspaper stories for deeper insights into the company where your ancestor worked. The 1921 Census is also the first census to ask people who were out of work to record their last employer, which is a huge bonus for family historians looking to understand a family member’s job history.
• Parental status for children under 15: The 1921 Census was the first and only enumeration to officially record and count children who were orphans. The "orphan" term does appear in earlier censuses, but there was no formal count of children with that description. The 1921 Census also asked specifically—for the first time—if the child's parents were alive or deceased. Given the impact of war casualties and the pandemic, these details may be clues as to how a child may have become an orphan.

Why It’s Important to Compare 1911 and 1921 Census Entries

Gain additional insights about your family when you compare entries in the 1911 Census of England and Wales with the 1921 entries. Information from these comparisons can lead to fresh lines of inquiry. They may even lead you into an uncharted branch of your family tree.

• Location changes: A young relative’s relocation between 1911 and 1921 could be due to several factors. For instance, a teenager may have moved from the family farm in Carmarthenshire to a nearby industrial hub in Cardiff because of wartime job opportunities. And a war widow could have returned from London to the countryside in Kent to raise her children at her in-laws' home.
• A different household size: If the number of people at the same address changed between 1911 and 1921, the family might have expanded due to births, marriages, or adoptions. War casualties or deaths from the pandemic may also have changed the makeup of the household.
• Unexpected surnames: A name that never appeared in earlier records for your family may indicate unknown family connections. For instance, you might find a demobbed brother or orphaned cousin in the household of a newly married woman. You could also see a widowed in-law—someone who lost their spouse during the Spanish flu pandemic.
• Shifts in employment: Anyone recorded as unemployed or on strike in 1921 could have been impacted by post-war job shortages or wider social or economic issues. Someone described as a factory worker in 1911 but as an invalid or disabled soldier in 1921 could have suffered severe injuries during the war.
• Employed women: Given the high number of women employed during the war, you may find that a female relative who wasn’t working in 1911 was listed as working 10 years later, in 1921. But if you find that great-great-aunt described as "presently unemployed" in 1921, she could have had wartime work, which ended sometime in the three years after the war.

Using 1921 Census Data to Transform Your Family Research

Life in 1921 Britain—three years after the official end of the Great War—included ongoing economic adjustments and social change. Factories that produced war materials either closed or pivoted to peacetime goods, while soldiers returned home to find wages cut or positions filled. And women were expected to return to the more traditional roles they held before the war.

Considering your ancestors’ 1921 Census entries, think about how the following issues might have affected your family. Reflecting on this contextual information can broaden and deepen your understanding of your relatives’ lives.

Housing shortages caused by a depleted workforce of builders during the war, or delayed construction may have prompted your ancestors to move. In addition, population booms in cities that hosted expanding industries left entire neighbourhoods strained. These factors could have led your family to change locations between 1911 and 1921.

The ongoing Spanish flu pandemic still affected many households at this time. Though its peak had passed, Spanish flu still lingered. A parent's death might leave orphans who found refuge with an older sibling or grandparent by 1921.

Shifting social structures caused by changes in employment or war casualties could also have contributed to people joining relatives' households by 1921. An unmarried relative with two children in your great-grandfather's home might spark questions about where she came from and which part of the family tree she belongs to.

Changing gender roles due to labour shortages during the First World War, more than a million women were working outside the home. After the war, some kept their jobs, which altered traditional household and gender dynamics. Other women, however, lost their jobs, as employers revoked wartime work opportunities once men were demobbed from their military service. Yet in early 1918, the government, in recognition of women’s contributions during the war and ongoing social pressures for suffrage, finally granted women over the age of 30 who met property qualifications—about 40 per cent of women— the right to vote, which gave them new access to power and influence.

Economic pressures across the country contributed to an overall sense of domestic instability. High levels of unemployment among returning soldiers, plus wartime businesses that had lost demand for their products led to the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1920. Three-quarters of British workers sought those benefits. Pressure also came from regular wage disputes in the mining industry, which impacted tens of thousands of workers and their families. If you spot "miner, out of work" for a relative in South Wales, it might tie into the Black Friday Strike. That strike was so significant that it actually delayed the 1921 Census enumeration from April (which is printed on the forms) until June.

Expanding transportation options meant increased mobility for the workforce. As more people moved to cities for employment, commuters could use newly developed or improved public transport services. The growing automobile industry, spurred by post-war demand, made cars more affordable. That might explain how a clerk relative could commute from a suburb instead of living near the office.

Building Out Your Family Story With Other Records

Once you've learned about your relatives' household in the 1921 Census, explore the range of other historical records on Ancestry to add more detail to your family story. Each record type has the potential to add an extra layer of understanding as you work to turn basic household facts into a family narrative.

• Military records can help you learn more about family members who may have served in the First World War.
• Local newspapers are an excellent resource for all kinds of contextual information. You might find job advertisements or factory openings that coincide with relocations between 1911 and 1921. News stories about your ancestor’s employer, as listed in the 1921 census record, might reveal labour disputes or business successes.
• Check Ancestry record collections on civil registrations and parish records to search for vital records on births, marriages, and deaths.
• While the 1939 Register is a more recent record collection, it’s not technically a census and it doesn’t include those in the military.

Pro Tips: Take a deeper dive into your family’s history by considering these points. Looking at these details with a view of the early interwar period helps contextualise facts within the larger tapestry of life in 1921 Britain.

• Study occupations with context. Think about how an ancestor's role—miner, joiner, millworker, bus conductor—may connect to industry trends in 1921. Could they have been impacted by strikes, factory expansions, or business shifts after the First World War? If your family member is listed as out of work in the 1921 Census, looking up the business named as their last employer could reveal why they had lost their job.
• Link to larger narratives. If a census entry shows your family members moved from a rural parish to a bustling factory town, researching local manufacturing booms in newspapers, for instance, or government job programs might provide clues about why they broke with long-standing farming traditions.

Rediscover Your Family's Story With the 1921 Census

A single line in a 1921 Census entry can confirm your relatives' resilience, or it might reveal family sorrows in the post-war period. However, each discovery in the record may bring distant names and dates to life, making your journey through the 1921 Census meaningful and rewarding. Tracing their lives between two world wars can deepen your connection to the people whose stories shaped your own.