Release date for 1921 census of England and Wales revealed…

Question

It’ll be available on Findmypast from 6 January… but there will be fees to pay for transcripts or images, even if you’re a FMP subscriber: https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census

(Don’t think I’ll be rushing to spend lots of money here )

Comments

£2.50 for every record transcript and £3.50 for every original record image.

Whooaaa!!! Cash cow anyone ...

For all 12-month Pro subscribers, there will be a 10% discount on any 1921 Census purchases.

Well that's alright then, makes it so much better!

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That's even greedier than Scotlands People (roughly £1.50 per image but depends on how many credits you buy).

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I also won't be making use of it in a hurry. I think they may have a ten year window in which they have an exclusive licence to make money from it. Then the Nat Archives will alow other companies to use the images. (for a fee, they've used a similar model before). I don't have any idea how much it cost FMP to digitise etc (The contract they won with the National Archives  for digitising, indexing and webhosting +  licence  was  'worth £10.5 million'   )  https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0798cab8-c813-4ace-9710-fe5d050e7887 

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I'm sure it's been really time-consuming and costly to digitise this, so I can understand FMP wanting to recoup their money. But... they're asking for a lot.

Hopefully it will make its way onto Ancestry and other sites in due course... Can anyone remember how long it was before the 1911 census was available on the usual sites? (wasn't it only on a really clunky website to start with?)

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Do we get our money refunded when we correct a transcription error?

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I've found the original  cost for the 1901 census 

Initial search of index free,  50p for one transcribed  name + 50p for the rest of the household + 75 p for the image.  It was so popular on release day in January that  it overwelmed the server. The website had to come offline after a few days and wasn't restored fully until November. (There were also some appalling transcriptions if I remember rightly; Don't think they gave refunds!) 

Nevertheless, it was far cheaper and easier for most people than visiting Portugal St in London to view micro fiches. Thats still true  even with these prices. 

https://www.nao.org.uk/press-release/unlocking-the-past-the-1901-census-online-2/#

Long wait after that for the next one in 2051.At least we already have the 1939 index.

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So even taking into account inflation of about 170% since 2002 (ONS) it was still way cheaper to access the 1901 Census than it will be to access the 1921 Census.

I completely understand that FMP have invested a lot in this project and should expect some return on that investment, but Censuses are public assets funded by public money. A fair price would be acceptable, I was even considering a subscription to FMP to get access, but no way with the addition of their current pay per view rates. They'll get £7.00 out of me for the two records I'd really like to see, no subscription and the rest can wait.

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I've just been notified that the World subscription which I currently have at a cost of $203.58 has been changed to the Pro subscription and next time I renew it will cost me $300. I cannot find any difference between the two in terms of what I can access.

Answer 1

I am feeling rather grateful that I only had one set of ancestors left in England at that time.  Rest were here in Oz.

Answer 2

As I understand it, you will be able to view the images at the National Archive in Kew for free, but I personally find it offensive to force people to travel, or go through a paywall to access the digital images. I believe Ancestry digitised the 1921 Census of Canada, but Library and Archives Canada also gives access.