Budding British genealogists get an unexpected boon today with the online publication of the census for the year 1901.
Amateur historians will be able to scour this vast resource as the Public Record Office (PRO) makes the entire 1901 census for England and Wales available online at
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The PRO said for the first time those seeking details of their ancestors will have access to a database of over 32 million people. These can be searched by a name, address, institution, vessel or place, the PRO said on its website.
The Queen Mother, Charlie Chaplin, Florence Nightingale and J.R.R. Tolkien are among the Edwardians whose details are recorded on the census.
The PRO has doubled its computer servers to cope with the expected increase in demand.
Spokeswoman Ms Alison Webster said: "We hope the online census will appeal to the increasing number of young people who come to us wanting to find out more about their grandparents or great-grandparents. People are also fascinated to find out who used to live in their house."