Genealogy Chat

Maureen - I have a theory about why those ages were written in on the 1901 census. Henry's occupation is given as '(Living on) Own Means' so I am thinking that maybe whoever processed the data thought that meant he was retired so they guessed his age would be about 65 and then guessed what age the daughters of a 65-year old man would be! Kate.

Maureen - I hadn't come across your search before but I just put in some of the details i.e. Doris age 30 and there were only three of them who were 'daughter' so it was easy to work out which one it was by looking at the other people in household.

Evening All Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Kate.. have you got a crystal ball or something. I never mentioned a surname!! Or are you one of half the membership of GR that has tried to help me before? New computer and lost a lot of my old mail. Plus i think all this is begining to addle my brain a bit!! Yes, it is the wonderful Moatts i am still on about, they did my head in months ago and i gave it a rest - it is after all only a favour i was doing a friend and not a rellie of mine. I put a message on trying to find board and forgot about it after a while. There were no Moatts anywhere on GR (not exact spelling) last week i suddenly gets email from someone that is a rellie - all excited - and then told they know nothing, so thats got me going again!! For anyone that wants the story - friend of mine couldnt find birth cert of her mother so i offered to look on 1837. not there. looked on 1901 census and found 2 children of the family(one of them the Mum) in what was called a convelesant home, i have established that it was a home for children, not all ill but of 'poor' families, in fact it was also called a mission home. The family was as follows. Henry/Harry Wellinton Moatt 23.2.1863 London Marion Ellen Moatt nee Howe married Sept.qtr 1893 Aston Warwickshire Doris Ellen born Dec 1893 Aston Florence Marion Mch 1895 London Elsie Mable Mch 1896 London Wm Chas Henry Mch 1899 London Dorothy Sept 1900 London (who started all this) The only people i could find were Wm.Chas aged 2 and Dorothy 7 months , address - cannot assertain on 1901 census for All Saints home Highgate. Dorothy always told her daughter she had a governess and lived in a big house (home?) And Williams daughter has an entry on GR, so they both survived the home. The rest of the family nowhere to be found Dorothy said her mother Marion died giving birth to her - nothing on 1837 Last night i found an entry on 1901 census Henry Moatt age NK, that was crossed out and 65 written Doris daughter NK ' ' 30 ' Elsie @ NK ' ' 28 ' I have looked for a Doris or Elsie being born between 1869 - 1872 - nothing but i HAVE found a Martin Henry born 1836 which would make him 65 in 1901 - in fact he is the grandfather of the children i am looking for (the Dad of Henry/Harry). All the addresses are different throughout the census, but i have found that, with most of my rellies in London In 1881 Henry/Harry is an entry clerk In 1891 he is a boarder and a Commission Agent In 1901 he has done a runner!! so no clue there. And where is Marion the wife and their other daughter Florence . Henry aged 65 on 1901 census is shown as a retired beer retailer ---- ive just thought of something ... maybe he did a Chrissie in the pub) sorry, thats for Eastenders fans only!! So is it me, is there something that i am missing? I have Dorothy born 1900 cant find registration of birth Marion supposed to have died 1900 cant find registration of death Florence found birth but thats it. And Henry/Harry/ Martin aged 30 odd years overnight or vanished. Thanks for taking the interest everyone, hope i havent given you my headache. I am going back to my Smiths they are easier!! maureen

If they are the Moatts, it said 'n.k.' for all their ages, i.e. 'not known' so I would go with that if I were you and ignore the ages written on, as we have no way of knowing who wrote them and why. It is a pretty unusual surname and if all the other details fit, I would think they will be the right family.

Maybe it is just a coincidence that another family with the same names appears. Have you tried looking at an earlier Census to see if the 'other' family are there?

Perhaps the enumorator who collected the info from the form forgot to fill the age bit in so when he came to fill in the book he just made it up. After all, he's dead and gone now you've discovered his error!

i have spent an age looking for a certain chap and his family. Found him OK 1871 aged 8, then 1881 aged 18, then 1891 he becomes 24 when he should have been 28. He married in 1893 and went on to have daughter Doris in 1893, Elsie 1896.Dorothy 1900 and son William in 1899. William and Dorothy are in a childrens home in 1901 census, from then on the rest seemed to have appeared to have vanished. Tonight i have just found 1901 census with the same chaps name, and the same names for daughters Doris and Elsie, but instead of being 34/38 ,7 and 5 they are shown as 65, 30 and 28, beside each age there was KN, that has been crossed out and ages put in, who would have done that? How can i find out if it is really them. have just realized i can look up the births and see if they should be the older ages, but there are only one lot on census using decoder with those names. maureen