Genealogy Chat

Some of my ancestors seem to have been a bit confused about their ages. Having searched on the Tips Board, there does seem to be some history of age differences between census so I'm assuming this is a pitfall to be aware of? Does the same apply to places of birth? I have ancestor whose place of birth on one census was Emsworth & on another is Chichester. Ok, they aren't a million miles away & I am absolutely certain I have the right family so is this just another watch out for? If a census taker indicated that someone was a daughter/son-in-law, could they actually mean stepdaughter/son? I have 2, 4, 10 & 12 year old daughters/sons-in-law appearing on the 1851 census. Could a girl have married at aged 15 during the 1800's? Sorry for all the questions. Geraldine (newbie & loving what I'm finding out)

Hi Geraldine Welcome to the boards I hope you have fun here. To answer your questions, ages do vary on censuses and places of birth can vary too. Son-in-law can mean stepson and it was legal for girls to marry aged 12 and boys aged 14. Heather

Yes step son and in law seem interchangeable I think. my lot only age about eight years between census. I think some took their age from when they were baptised. Some just didn't know how old they were so guessed roughly. Places of bith vary depending on who gives it , if the parents give it for a child I think it is probably more accurate, than a child who moved at the age of one may think they always live there where they grew up.and give slightly the wrong place. I have places of birth which vary between the village and the nearest town. My grandfather apparently said he was born in 1900 in Chichester , but he was actually born 1899 in Eastbourne and only thought he was born Chichester because that is where he remembered living. But do be careful as I also have two lots of cousins in the neighbouring area who gave their children similar names!! Just to make life harder Hope you sort it. Kim

Technically Emsworth and Chichester are different counties, but as you say, not THAT far from each other. Have you found a baptism record..... or perhaps their marriage banns give a clue as to possible birthplace.? Beware of 'of this parish ' though, it doesn't necessarily mean born there. The general rule for census is often thought to be that the younger the child, the more likely the place of birth is correct, ... but I have a family in Herefordshire in 1901, who 'forgot' their 10 years old son was born at the same address as my grandmother, in South Wales, ( I have his cert.) They say he was born in Herefordshire. In later census, people might think they were born and brought up in one and the same place, but in fact the family moved, when they were young. Yes step children were often referred to as in-laws, ie children in the eyes of the law, I suppose. The age of the youngest will sometimes help to indicate the time frame for their parent's 2nd marriage. Have you visited the Record Office in Chichester? It's in walking distance of the town and station. There is so much to delve in to there. Gwyn

Geraldine 1. Welcome to the boards and the wacky world of family history! 2. As my Norfolk grandfather used to say 'a fact is a lie and a half'. 3. ANY INFORMATION CAN BE WRONG. I have found mistakes on censuses, certificates, electoral rolls and tombstones!!! I have ancestors who change which COUNTY they were born in from census to census. Husband has a maiden gt gt gt aunt, who was obviously worried about getting older as she only aged about 6 years over 3 censuses! Likewise, many of them change their names a bit too. Sometimes this is an enumerator/transcribers error, and sometimes it is just wrong. I even have a child called Mary on one census and Joseph on the next (I kid you not!) 4. If you are in a bit of doubt about information, sometimes buying a cert or finding a parish register entry can help to sort out whether its right or not. 5. Good luck! Please ask if you have further queries. nell

Oh and Emsworth is a lovely place. I have friends who live near Portsmouth and we've spent many happy hours in Emsworth - and Chichester! nell

I think it was in 1871 that the question was changed on the census form from: Where were you born? to Where were you born? Give nearest identifiable town. This was presumably because before this people were saying born on Pratt's Farm, or born Little Mudwick - and the collators of the census didnt have a clue where Pratt's Farm or Little Mudwick was. It also depends on who gave the information to the Enumerator - a 10 year old child might not have had the faintest idea where he, or his parents, were born and the helpful enumerator, who wanted to get on and stop wasting time, said 'Well, lets just say they were born here' OC

and some earlier census reporters rounded the ages up or down to the nearest 5 years, which is annoying for us now... I've had marriage certs ghastly wrong, listing incorrect occupations & names for fathers, when they were both different & deceased. This gets disconcerting.