The 1931 census ...

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)

I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the destruction
was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to the debris? There
must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the 1921 was 8 million
housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to landfill? Fertiliser?
What?

[john]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the destruction
was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to the debris? There
must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the 1921 was 8 million
housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to landfill? Fertiliser?
What?

and also
https://www.familyhistory.co.uk/1931-census/
and
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/+/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=1931_Census

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
... was destroyed in a fire. (Not a good idea to store it over a
furniture warehouse, but hindsight is easy.)
I've seen the letter written at the time, recording that the
destruction was pretty complete, but I wonder - what _happened_ to
the debris? There must have been a lot of it, in sheer volume - the
1921 was 8 million housholds, so I assume the 1931 more. Did it go to
landfill? Fertiliser? What?

from
https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/questions/9808/do-any-fragments-of-t
he-1931-census-of-england-wales-survive

[]

He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it would
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the
Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they
think desirable".

Yes, that's the letter I've seen (it's cited at great length in
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/+/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=1931_Census
as well - thanks John).

I'm just wondering what the "Office of Works" _did_ actually do with it
all.

I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened _should_ have been better
investigated, even if there _was_ a war on! (The fire was _not_ caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't
think how that would help the enemy.])

Could form part of a novel: did someone want something that was in it to
be unfindable? (If so, what - just that he was living with someone, or
more nefarious?)

I'd also forgotten - or didn't know - that the Scottish part survived,
as it was in Edinburgh (the fire was in Hayes). So, presumably, in just
over 10 years' time _that_ one _will_ appear.

[MB]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened_should_ have been better
investigated, even if there_was_ a war on! (The fire was_not_ caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't
think how that would help the ene

There were acts of sabotage by the IRA and others. In their warped
minds they might think destroying any part of the state was justified.
Perhaps as some sort of revenge for the loss of Irish records though I
think the IRA themselves were responsible for that.

[Graeme Wall]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
I'd also forgotten that it was in a building with special hydrants and
paid firewatchers; quite what happened_should_  have been better
investigated, even if there_was_  a war on! (The fire was_not_  caused
by enemy action - at least, not bombing. [Could be sabotage, but I can't
think how that would help the ene

There were acts of sabotage by the IRA and others.  In their warped
minds they might think destroying any part of the state was justified.
Perhaps as some sort of revenge for the loss of Irish records though I
think the IRA themselves were responsible for that.

I doubt many people, outside the relevant home office department, even
knew what was in there.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On Wed, 3 Nov 2021 at 03:15:42, Charles Ellson

On Tue, 2 Nov 2021 12:07:43 +0000, john

[]

He reported that he and his colleague "are both satisfied that it would
be useless to attempt any sort of salvage operation; we are leaving the
Office of Works to clear and dispose of the debris in any way they think
desirable".

Being paper, most of the census records probably went up in the air as
combustion products with the "debris" being mostly what was left of

Hmm, I hadn't thought of it just going up in the air. However, there's
mention of pages burnt about two inches in on all sides (and thus
unusable, in the opinion of the person writing), so it didn't _all_ go
(literally!) up in smoke; I imagine some of that is where they managed
to douse it with water.

the building itself. I can't find any specific information but the

Plus the cupboards, racks, etc. it was stored in/on. Whether these were
metal or wood, I don't know.

metal likely went to salvage (but not necessarily used; donated iron
railings were gathered in big piles which often remained unused) while
there would have been lots of bomb craters etc. that the rubble could
have been tipped into if bricks weren't reused.

Indeed.