1901 census site proves a crashing success
The National Archives' online 1901 census has been sold to internet enterprise Friends Reunited for £3.3 million just three years after its disastrous launch.
Friends Reunited, whose hugely-successful website brings together old classmates, has acquired the operation from Qinetiq, the census project's commercial partner, it was announced on 19 August.
Within days of its launch in January 2002, the online 1901 census was embarrassingly withdrawn due to its overwhelming popularity with the public.
The flagship e-service collapsed when an estimated seven million users attempted to access the service simultaneously, overloading the system's capacity.
According to BT, the volume of traffic to the site had at one point threatened to paralyse the UK's entire telephone network.
Normal service did not resume until November of that year.
The site provides paid-per-view access to the archived records of the 20th Century's first public census, covering around 32 million people living in England and Wales in 1901.
Despite its initial teething troubles, the service's fortunes have turned around and by March 2003 the site, which cost over £8m to develop, generated total revenues of £4.5m.
Its current success has been spurred on by the growing public interest in family ancestry and genealogy.
Michael Murphy, Friends United's Chief Executive, said it was looking to develop the service into a "one-stop-shop for anyone wanting to research their family tree."
The company itself is currently the subject of rumours about a possible take-over by another firm.
Send your comments on this article to editor@egovmonitor.com
