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Birth Year Information

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Gary

Gary Report 25 Jun 2003 19:14

Just a note to say, do not rely on the year of birth calculated from the census for finding the information you need for getting birth certificates. Looking in my local library for the info on four of my grandfathers siblings, all but one was born in a different year than that calculated. The good news is that it appears always to be earlier than later thereby limiting the number of microfiche to check to usually about six. Regards Gary

Crista

Crista Report 25 Jun 2003 20:48

I think the census only asked for age and not date of birth. Because the census was taken in March, people born between April-December will appear to be a year younger than they actually are. The DOB is calculated from the age in March. I'm also finding a lot of my female relatives tended to knock a few years off their ages, especially if they were older than their husbands

Pamela

Pamela Report 25 Jun 2003 23:10

People also didnt always tell the exact truth about other things either. I have four census records for my gt grandfather (including 1851 when he was 1 so not in a position to prevaricate) there is a different place of birth for him on each one. I knew when I found the first one (1891) that he was fibbing because it said his wife was born in the same place and I knew she wasnt. It is only now I have finaly tracked down his birth certificate and it dosent actually matter any more that I know where he really was born. (or were his parents fibbing as well?)