The recent release of the 1926 census records has been a huge success. One hundred years after the census was conducted, folks like me have been pouring over the records looking for family, and who lived where. I have found a lot of family and have had great fun researching this precious archive.
The recent 2022 census records should be released in 2122, most of us alive today will be dead by then. If the enthusiasm for the 1926 census is anything to go by, future generations will be itching to see the 2022 records. It was the first census that allowed a freehand section at the end to allow people to write anything they wanted - it was called the "Time Capsule". As I was a Census Enumerator in 2022, I got to see a lot of these when I collected the forms after census night. I saw hand-drawn pictures of the family pet and references to the war in Ukraine. Many people added the names of family who were not in the house that night (they still would not have been counted).
However, if my experience collecting the forms is anything to go by, I found that at least 60% of households (I had 480) left the Time Capsule blank. Many folks said that they did not know what to write in the space or that they could not think of anything to say. What a pity! Imagine the enthusiasm when someone in 2122 opens up a record to see where their grandparents lived and what they wrote in the Time Capsule, only to be disappointed to see a blank! I think at the time of the census that this should have been publicised more. I know I filled mine out with trivia about the family that hopefully my descendants will get a kick out of in 2122.
What many people will see in 2122 - a blank Time Capsule.
Image taken from CSO website.
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