The 1939 register

[BestIsWest]

I’ve been looking up some relatives on the 1939 register on Ancestry and am a bit puzzled by something.

One family member who was 12 in 1939 has her maiden surname crossed out and her married name written over it. Now I know she didn’t get married until after the war so I’m wondering how this could have happened.

Were the records available to be amended at some point?

I’m also surprised that her name isn’t redacted as her brother died before her and his name is redacted.

This is taken from Ancestry's information page about the Register:

About 1939 England and Wales Register
Historical Context
Initially taken due to the onset of war with the purpose of producing National Identity Cards, the register later came to be multi-functional, first as an aid in the use of ration books and later helping officials record the movement of the civilian population over the following decades and from 1948, as the basis for the National Health Service Register.

I believe that for births after some cut-off date, one has to apply to have them unredacted.

It might be that someone has already done this for your unredacted female relative – but not her brother.

Ah ok, so it’s likely that it was updated in the 1940s then. That’s useful to know.

It was updated until the 1980s at least!
It was the basis of the NHS register. My mother has her married name there and she was married 1965

That is so interesting! I’m finding it really useful - Found a few more married surnames.

It's incredible, isn't it?

We were puzzling over it the other day – and realised that the unexpected child in one household must be an evacuee. Friend with whom I was researching did dimly know her grandparents had hosted evacuees, but it was a bit startling to see one right at the outbreak of war (had his own line in the register, so clearly there from the start).

But thinking it over, I remember that's what did happen: mass organisation for evacuation right at the outbreak of war, in the expectation of mass bombing. Then the phony war and some children being taken back home by parents.

If my Mum had been evacuated she'd have gone to Lowestoft area, and then later re-evacuated to the Peak District. As they moved them from areas likely to be invaded.

If my Mum had been evacuated she'd have gone to Lowestoft area, and then later re-evacuated to the Peak District. As they moved them from areas likely to be invaded.

In the area where my mum lived, the authorities where appealing for people to take in evacuees right up to Dunkirk. Then while Dunkirk was still ongoing, all the local children were evacuated to the Midlands, as it was a coastal area and expected to be in the frontline for invasion. The evacuee trains were held up to allow the trains carrying troops who'd landed from Dunkirk to get away.

My Grandmother has the same, which alarmed me at first, because she seemed to be living with her first husband, but with her second husband’s name. As I thought her first husband, my grandfather, had died before the war started I had a surprise. When I looked more closely I could see that her name had been crossed through and changed, but in the same pen someone had initialled it and put “1948” alongside. So problem solved, and it helped me find my Grandfathers death (he died when my Mum was little, so she’d confused the year).

I’ve found quite a few relatives have this now. I’ve even found my aunt on there who is very much still alive which surprised me. I can’t quite figure out how they decide whether someone’s details should be hidden.