Searching For Kitty Smith

Release of the 1921 Census

Finally - the 1921 Census had been released! I had been eagerly awaiting this moment and couldn't wait to take a look. I logged on to Find My Past, the official home of the 1921 Census, but, after several failed searches, and after much expense (although it is free to search you have to pay to view) I found nothing!

Visit to The National Archives


I decided to take a day out at the National Archives at Kew where it is possible to view records without charge. Leaving hubby with my son, Jonathan, who took him to watch the Brentford F.C. game, I settled in for a few hours at a computer terminal at the archives.

I managed to find a Catherine Skivington living at St. Anne's convent, Summerhill Grove, in Newcastle on Tyne. Catherine was recorded as a servant, born in Barrow-in-Furness, mother dead, working in the laundry. Thinking this was my grandmother Kitty I was quite excited! However, the age was wrong as this Catherine was only 14 years old whereas my grandmother would have been 15 years and 6 months old. My grandmother's sister was named Margaret Catherine, and the age was correct for her, so I believe this entry was for Margaret, using her middle name of Catherine. Margaret is 2nd. from bottom on the form, shown below.

I also searched the remaining pages for the convent but found nothing relating to my grandmother Kitty. It seems she had left the convent by 1921.

Census Return for St Anne's Convent, Summerhill Grove, Newcastle on Tyne (first page).


Transcript of the 1921 Census entry for Catherine Skivington (Census Date June 1921)

Name: Catherine Skivington 
Relationship: Servant 
Age: 14 yrs 0 months 
Orphanhood: Mother Dead 
Birth Place: Lancashire, Barrow-in-Furness 
Occupation: Laundress 
Employment: Private 

It is clear from the given age that 'Catherine' is Margarate Catherine Skivington, born 25th May 1907, not Catherine Skivington born 9th October 1905.




Photo of St. Anne's Convent

Disappointment

Despite spending 3 hours in the Archives I found no trace of my grandmother Catherine (Kitty) Skivington. However, I also struggled to find some other relatives by name, only finding them by address as there were a lot of indexing errors - mispelling of surnames, for example. I have given up on the 1921 census for now - hopefully it will, at some point, be accessible via other genealogy sites, like Ancestry, and be searchable for free with a subscription, Until then, the search goes on........

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