Genealogy Chat

Hi Could any please help me.?? I have the death cert for my gg grandfather which states he died at the age of 73 but , today i have found him on the 1861 census and his age is 63 , He was born in 1798 and died in 1864 which makes him 66 which is correct with census but not death cert. He is also on the 1851 census and his age talles with the 1861 census. He had senile dementure and passed away in a workhouse so could they have just guessed his age??? he was also in workhouse on the 1861 cenus. Am i losing the plot or does this sound ok to others. All other info on census is correct ie job place of birth etc. Which is also on death cert just age is different. Theresa. x

It sounds like a good bet to me. The info on a death cert is only as reliable as the info given by the informant. On death certs where the informant was the person's wife or son/daughter, the age is wrong on some of mine so if he was in the workhouse they would probably only have had a rough idea of how old he was If everything else matches up then it's more than likely him

Don't take ages for granted on certificates or census records they are usually wrong just use them as a guide. Chances are his age was guessed from his apperence so as he aged and deterated he would have looked alot older then he really was.

Thanks Thats what i thought just needed someone elses ideas. Theresa. x

Death certs are the least reliable info because the person informing the death doesn't necessarily have the correct details. My own grandfather's death cert, informant his son (my uncle) has errors in his place and date of birth. nell

The only way to be absolutely certain of someone's age throughout their life is to buy their birth certificate if possible. It's the only reliable source for someone's age. Kath. x