sell house History Records Riddles
There are many puzzles and irregularities that can cause headaches for those who are unfamiliar with Uk or Irish census forms and birth, marriage or death records. Those new to genealogical research need to fabricate lateral reasoning skills and understand that even official records can contain misleading or mistaken information. Here are some base misconceptions...
house History Records Riddles
Q. My great grandparents' marriage certificate tells me that they were both twenty one years old when they married, but I know they were separate ages.
A. Many Uk marriage certificates show twenty one as the age for both parties. In fact this means that they were at least twenty one, or, as sometimes stated, of full age. Even this is not always true as habitancy often lied about their age or did not know their exact year of birth.
Q. Uk census returns tell me that my great grandfather was 60 in 1881 and his
wife was 50, but I know from their death certificates that this can't be right.
A. Be wary of ages being rounded up or down to end in a favorable nought. For example, in the 1841 Uk Census the age of everybody over the age of fifteen was rounded down to the nearest five years. Round figures are also base in later censuses if the year of birth was uncertain. There are many examples, of course, where the ages given are fully accurate, but added sources such as birth certificates should be consulted whenever possible to confirm accuracy. Many habitancy were reluctant to give accurate data about their age to anyone in authority in case disparities were revealed that might influence a house member's wages or show irregularities of birth, for example, an illegitimate child, or an under age marriage.
Q. I'm assuming that names given on Uk census returns are correct, so why isn't my great uncle there?
A. There are many examples of inaccuracies to be found, particularly when details have been transcribed onto a website, e.g. The Uk 1901 Census. Among the most ordinarily found errors are wrongly spelled surnames and incorrect initials, where the old-fashioned and often unclearly written entries have been incorrectly interpreted. For example, James Shelly appears as S. Shelly in the 1901 Census. Incongruities are particularly base surrounded by Irish immigrant returns as the enumerator interpreted the unfamiliar accent to the best of his ability.
The other possibility is that your great uncle was out of the country for some reason, e.g. As a member of the forces.
Q. Well, at least the place names must be right!
A. Unfortunately it is easy to be misled by the place names too. The most accurate is likely to be the address, as the enumerator would hopefully have written this correctly (but not necessarily clearly) in his book. Even here, a rural address may be as vague as 'By the church', or 'The Alley ', especially in the earlier censuses. But, as with other details, as soon as others undertake transcriptions, errors creep in. For example, some transcriptions of the 1881 Uk Census contain some very strange place names which are fully at odds with those found on the former documents. This is partly due to Us transcribers dealing with largely unfamiliar Uk place names and, in most instances, hazarding a guess. Also, as with people's names, enumerator wrote down what they heard, coping with unknown accents and unfamiliar place names. Many habitancy were not aware of their birthplace, giving instead the place they remembered living in as a child, or the nearest large place to where they lived.
Q. My great great grandfather must have married twice. In 1881 he is married to Isabella but in 1901 he is married to Ann.
A. He may have married twice, but it is also possible that Isabella and Anne are the same person. Second names were often used as the familiar name, especially if a child also bore the same name as a parent. Shortened versions of names appear on census returns too, so Anastasia and Johanna in one census, might both be found as Ann, Anne, Annie, Anna or Hannah in another.
Q. My ancestor was 'living on her own means' in 1881, so she must have been rich.
A. In some cases perhaps, but in most cases this can be taken to mean that she was providing for herself straight through revenue derived possibly from a lodger's rent, or money from doing laundry, as opposed to dependence on a husband's wage.
Q. Michael Kelly is four years old in 1851, but only seven years old in 1861. It must be a misprint.
A. Not necessarily. The first Michael may have died as a child. A subsequent son was often been given the same name, especially if the name was that of a parent or grandparent. It is not uncommon to find three or more children being baptised within a very short space of time, all with the same name.
Q. My surname is Booker so my ancestors were probably academics.
A. They may have been, but this is one example of many names that have more than one meaning. In this case, it is just as possible that your ancestors' name derived from the Middle English name Bouken, meaning man who bleaches cloth.
Q. My ancestor is living with her son in law in 1881, but he is only fourteen and has the same surname as his mother in law.
A. As well as its more familiar meaning, the term son in law can also mean an adopted son or a stepson from another marriage, in other words a son 'in the eyes of the law'. This would probably by comparison the term in this example. You should also be aware that the son in law might have taken on the name of his mother's second husband, so in order to find his birth certificate some extra detective work would be needed. He might also be the orphaned child of a deceased brother or sister of your ancestor.
Q. The date on my great grandfather's grave is 1919, but his death certificate shows that he died on December 28th 1918. The stonemason must have made a mistake.
A. The date engraved on a gravestone often referred to the date of burial rather than the date of death. In this case, the burial probably did not take place until the New Year 1919 and that is the date shown on the stone. Similarly baptismal dates may be found in a house Bible, rather than birth dates.
Q. In 1865 my great grandmother was born in Belper's Row, Swansea, but this is nowhere to be found on a map of the same time.
A. Unfortunately rows of structure were sometimes known by the name of the landlord who rented them out. In this case, Belper was probably the landlord of several houses that therefore became known unofficially by those in the area as Belper's Row. It is unlikely that you will be able to find out its exact location.
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