actual census data is sealed for a hundred years and only statistical analyses are released by the public records office. this means that today is the first time that the actual 1901 census data can be pored over. and for the first time the pro have put the census online rather than making us all go to the family records office to strain our eyes using microfiche readers. from what i heard on the radio this morning it sounds like they are planning on going back and making previous censii(??) available online too. let’s hope they sort their server out first as the current setup is woefully inadequate and consists mainly of apache errors, connection timeouts and “sorry the server is too busy” notices.

i’ve been trying to locate my great grandmother who would have been eight years old at the time of this census. i’m not quite sure if i’ve got the right person because of a slight difference in name, age and place from what i would have expected. i’d be willing to pay the 75p to see the actual census record and check with my family. except i have reservations about putting money into a system as flaky as this one. although it costs 75p to view an image of the original census page featuring a person there is a minimum charge of £5 per “session”. i’ve already been told that my session has timed out several times so i’m not willing to let the machine eat my money as well as my time.