Genealogy Chat

Please can anyone offer any help with this: FACT, I have Eli Plimmers marriage cert. 20.06.99 ; it states that he is 28years old - his fathers name is also Eli Plimmer. I have from freebmd Eli jrn's D.O.B. as June 1871. In 1901 census Eli jrn his listed with wife. However hard I try I can't find anything of Eli or his father between birth and marriage. 1881 census produced no results, and 1891 freecen had nothing to offer! - I need to know the rest of the family. There is an Eli Plimmer on 1881 census with son Eli but he is only 11m old - all the other details fit - could LDS have made a mistake? Has anyone any suggestions,comments or help please.

i would go for the odds on an error !!

The transcriber could have easily written 11 mos instead of 11 yrs. Please remember that the indexes have been typed out from the old hand written records, some of which have been crossed out and scribbled over, so NEVER take what has been transcribed as definite. Terrible spelling mistakes are made, names and place names are deciphered completely wrongly, and ages are often as much as 10 years out. Use the index as a guide, look at the handwritten records if you possibly can, and be prepared to be VERY flexible. Added to this the people in the census forms said they were as little as five years different between census date, or as much as 15. Don't know whether they told fibs or just forgot how old they were. Place names also vary from census to census. Jan.

Thank you Patricia and Jan. If anyone has time to do a look up on 1881 or 1891 census I would be very thankful. Both Eli's (father and son) were I think born in Dawley (dist. Madeley) Salop. Many thanks Florence.