The 1911 Census is available online at http://www.1911census.co.uk on a pay as you go basis. I have already tried this when it was in beta and concluded that it would be too expensive for me to use that way.

Just after Christmas, I got an email offering 15% off any subscription before the 2nd January. The email went on:

Why join now? 2009 is going to be a big year!

2009 will see us finish our new versions of the last two England & Wales censuses (1851, 1901), add images to the 1881 census, and most importantly, will see us add the brand-new 1911 census later in the year.

We will be the only website to include the 1911 census next year, meaning findmypast.com will be the only place to find the complete censuses 1841-1911.

This implies that by subscribing, you will have access using your subscription during 2009 to the 1911 census.

From the subscription usage terms:

The Explorer subscription entitles you to unlimited access to all records on the findmypast.com website, excluding Living Relatives where you will have ten free searches per annum (or pro rata for a shorter subscription). The Explorer subscription does not cover access to the military memorial scrolls.

The Explorer subscription gave unlimited access to all records on the findmypast.com website and the 1911 census was coming in 2009 to the findmypast.com website, this meant that by subscribing I would have unlimited access to the 1911 census at some point in 2009. On this basis, I figured I couldn’t go wrong and so I invested in an Explorer subscription to give me access to the 1911 census later in 2009.

Today I received the January newsletter. This states the following:

The census will be available on findmypast.com later this year, as part of a brand new subscription package. Existing findmypast.com subscribers will be offered an add-on package at a preferential rate.

If this isn’t included in the Explorer subscription, this seems like blatant false advertising when I was sold the subscription. I have emailed findmypast for clarification.