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Rounding up or down Birthdates.

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Alan

Alan Report 13 Apr 2012 12:04

At a time when some people couldnt (or didnt know) when they were born, someone introduced a rounding up process to within the nearest five years.
Does anyone know if it was officially introduced and if so when?

Adeline

Adeline Report 13 Apr 2012 12:24

One example is the 1841 census, but I expect you already know this.

http://durhamrecordsonline.com/updates/2010/09/17/added-explanation-of-1841-census-age-rounding/

mgnv

mgnv Report 13 Apr 2012 12:48

Also 1841 wasn't rounding up, but rounding down - it was only supposed to be applied for those aged 15+.

Alan

Alan Report 13 Apr 2012 13:00

I'm grateful to Adeline & mgnv for those responses, thank you.

MargaretM

MargaretM Report 13 Apr 2012 13:07

The 1841 census was the only one where they rounded down the ages. And only for those over 15.

Researching:
Great grandmother Dorothy Bean nee Abbott (1858-1908)

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it Report 13 Apr 2012 13:25

I think it was only for the purposes of the 1841 census and the enumerator did the rounding offs

Researching:
Surname Fahse. Germany. Essex .South East London My avatar is one of our wedding photos of 1957

SylviaInCanada

SylviaInCanada Report 14 Apr 2012 05:14

and ................


just it all the more interesting for us


not all enumerators did as they were supposed to do.



so you will find people whose ages have not been round down!!


Basically ............ if the age ends in 0 or 5, assume the age has been rounded down, and thus always add +/- 5 to the birth year shown on the 1941 .............. until you find other evidence, than use birth year +/- 2 years.


If the age ends in any other number except 0 or 5 for a person over 15 ....... then that the enumerator did not round down.




The 1841 is the only census in which ages were rounded down.

Researching:
My brother, photo taken in September 1991 just a couple of weeks before he died. ............................................................ To help us and to get better results, please post as much detail as you can, especially name, date(s) and place. Also say what you already know.

DazedConfused

DazedConfused Report 14 Apr 2012 11:19

I must add that all my ancestors with 1 exception have been listed in all census returns at the correct age.

I think that although enumerators were advised to do the rounding up/down on the 1841 census, quite a few just did not bother and put down the correct age.

And the +/-2 is probably the best to use when initally searching only going to the 5 year option when all else fails. :-)

Researching:
We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars, Oscar Wilde New avatar, my dad age about 3/4 months, could have been worse, it could have been the awful nude on a rug!!

Alan

Alan Report 14 Apr 2012 12:46

Thank you all for your input.
What a nightmare; some Enumerators did as they were told, others didnt. Some had good writing skills, some didnt, all making a nice mix for Researchers to contend with.