Genealogy Chat

I'm trying to find the birth of my great grandmother, Minnie Naylor.

The 1911 census has her dob as 1887, but if I count back from the dates on her marriage & death certs I get 1886.

I have found a record of a Minnie Naylor being born in the right area in 1886.

I also have an 1891 record for what I think must be her family in the correct village and the fathers name matches the wedding cert which gives year of birth as 1885.

I'm 95% certain I have the right person, but just wanted to check is it normal for the years to be a bit out on the records.

Incorrect birth year on census records are very common.

There are many possible reasons for this but the most common reason for being just 1 year out is the time of the year the person was actually born. Most census were taken about the end of March or beginning of April. If someone was born during Jan~Mar the they should show with their correct birth year. If they were born Apr~Dec then they are likely to be shown as having a birth year 1 year later than actual.

Thanks Jonesey, I thought they might be.

Just to confirm what Jonesey has said, the census returns can only be viewed as a guide. People's vanity also got in the way of giving exact ages plus many people could not read or write so no documents would be kept at home to record events. The 1841 census is very inaccurate as to ages because the ages were rounded down to the nearest 5!!

It could well be vanity, over 20 years she seems to have made herself 2 years younger.

Thanks for the warning about the 1841 census, I'll remember that when I get back that far.

Although generally a good guide, census can show wrong birthplace too.
Sometimes this is because someone grew up in a place and presumed they were born there, sometimes they ( or spouse or employer) didn't know and just guessed.
I even have parents on 1901 census in Herefordshire who declare their son aged 10 was born in a nearby village, but I have a copy of his certificate showing him born in a Welsh coal mining valley.

.....and as for Hannah whose place of birth changed with each census, ..she remains a mystery and still has no beginning or end.

Often you need other evidence to back up census findings, but that's part of the interesting chase.

Gwyn

The birth year does not appear on a census image.
It is added on transcription.
The Latterday Saints did the first transcription and simply took the age away from the census year.
EG 1881
Birth Year 1876
Birthplace Beaulieu Rails, Hampshire, England
Age 5
Occupation
Marital Status U
George RENYARD
All subsequent transcriptions follow the same system.
When you find a likely birth work out what age should show on a census.

Ages can be wrong on death certificates as well as census returns. People often falsified their ages at marriage (upwards or downwards depending on the reason) and even their spouse didn't know their true age when it came to giving information fot the census or recording a death.
As for changing birthplaces, sometimes this may be simply different ways of referring to the same place, e.g a village that was part of a parish with a different name or, more recently, boundary changes.
Also, the practice of marking off entries on the census form can make some figures almost impossible to read.
I've come across all these in trying to trace my family history.

Thanks for the replies, I'm pretty sure that each of the records I've found is correct now.

On the 1891 census (where the age seems 2 yesrs out) she has a sister called Nellie and when I called my mum she said that the last time she went up to see the family (in the 50's), she stayed with an Aunt Nellie. She also remembered Nellie's children, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to double check everything.