George V, yesterday
As predicted, the newly released 1911 census data proved very popular yesterday. By midday, curious genealogists had browsed 7.2 million pages. The press have unearthed ancestors of several famous Londoners. As well as Beckham's scavenger origins, and Winehouse's Russian pedigree, we also learned that Virginia Woolf was living in Fitzroy Square (as Adeline Virginia Stephen) and occupying herself as a journalist. Newbie monarch George V lists four pages of household staff. JM Barrie, for reasons unknown, notes himself as married, despite divorcing in 1909. Sir Ebenezer Howard, architect of 'garden cities' such as Letchworth and Welwyn, appears as a humble proofreader. And a 47-year-old widow called Minnie Milles from Leicestershire once dwelled in the townhouse in Connaught Square owned by Tony Blair. No sign of Mary Poppins, though.
