Release of 1921 census data on hold
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There are more than just “three old ladies in Kingston” waiting in anticipation for the 1921 census data to be released.
The federal government has yet to release the data, even though the records were available to be opened on June 1. In Canada, census data is held for 92 years before it’s released to the public.
In recent weeks, genealogists across the country have been calling for the release of the 1921 stats.
And genealogy blogs across the Internet have been buzzing of late about a story circulating that an unnamed government official said the government isn't making the release of the information a priority because nobody cares except “three old ladies in Kingston.”
The origin of the quote in question is in a blog post by genealogist Rick Roberts, who says he did not personally hear the unnamed government official say it, but was told about the comment by a “reliable” source within Library and Archives Canada. He will not identify his source.
In any event, he recently reported the quote on his website, globalgeneaology.com, and it raced around the blogosphere. The Whig-Standard has not been able to confirm the nor deny the quote’s authenticity.
Whether it's authentic or not, a local genealogy group is confident that interest in the data extends far beyond “three old ladies.”
“We had a meeting (last) Sunday afternoon and that quote was definitely mentioned,” said Joyce Fingland, chair of the Kingston branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. “You’ve got 15 people here saying, ‘Which three of us are they on about?’ ”
The Kingston branch has 385 members, some of who are more active than others. Fingland said many of them have been waiting for this data to be released for some time.
“It gives you a way of tracking a family and tracking people,” she said. “They ask lots of questions on the census … what were they doing to earn a living? What did they put down for religion? Questions like those help us fill in who the person was.”
The last accessible nationwide census data was the 1911 census, released 10 years ago. Fingland isn’t sure why the latest data hasn’t been released yet, but says it may be because it’s not yet indexed. By indexing census data, the government makes it possible for people to search for names online instead of combing through a mass of documents.
“So it’s not indexed?” she said. “That’s fine, put it out there. It’ll get indexed eventually, people want the information.”
Recently, Library and Archives Canada made a controversial deal to hand over millions of public documents to canadiana.com, a not-for-profit company, for digitization. In return, the organization will have a 10-year exclusive licence to sell the digital documents. Although some have speculated there is a connection between this contract and the release of the census data, it’s unclear whether this is the case.
Nonetheless, genealogists looking for the 1921 data have been fighting to have their voices heard by the government.
“I’ve fired off my email, I’ve signed the petition and have encouraged everyone else to do so … I think there’s some hope that in the next couple weeks they’ll come to us and discover there are enough people out there that care,” Fingland said.
“I think that’s probably the main issue, that they think this isn’t something that matters to anybody, but that’s not really true,” she added.
According to Joanne Stanbridge, a librarian of genealogy at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, some of the interest in this data in particular stems from the fact that it was collected just after the end of the First World War. At the time, there was a baby boom and families were reuniting and relocating.
When doing research recently, Stanbridge came across information regarding a Kingston soldier whose wife had died, leaving him to care for his three young children. When he was off at war, the girls were placed in a local orphanage.
“Because he has a common name, I don’t know what happened to them after the war,” Stanbridge said.
She believes the release of the 1921 data will help her track this family, as well as others who were in similar situations.
She said it’s frustrating to know that the information is there and just waiting to be released. Since June 1, she’s had people come into the library and make requests with which the 1921 data could have helped.
Genealogists make up 70% of the clientele at Library and Archives Canada, according to Richard Provencher, head of media relations with LAC.
“With 197,529 pages, the 1921 census is a large electronic file to prepare and make accessible,” Provencher said in an email. “Once assembled and fully indexed, it will constitute the largest online record of Canadian genealogical information.”
He said that the LAC has received requests for this information, and it will be released “as soon as possible.”
