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Author
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Topic: Age on Death Certs (Read 1047 times)
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Sueh2
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 537
Violet Ward 1902-1996
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Hi,
I'm trying to find a couple of deaths so that I can send off for the certificates but having searched the complete indexes can only find people of the right name with ages that are quite a lot out. I wonder whether others have found this on certs they have ordered.
My thinking is that the person who registered a death may not really have known the age of the deceased and made a guess.
What do you think should I pay my money and take a chance?
Sue
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 Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukE Yorks: HALL, HARLEY, HARVEY, HULLAH, PORTER, PRESTON. Essex: HARVEY, SMITH. ONG, HUMM/HUME Norfolk: TUCK Lincs: ADAMS, HOLLAND. |
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stanmapstone
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 7328
My answers only refer to England and Wales
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Hi Sue,
How much is "quite a bit out"?
Stan
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seahall
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 7541
Our Beloved Grand-children
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Hi Sue
If you wrote direct to the Registry Office where the death took place and gave
them as much detail as you have on the person they would more than likely
let you know if it was the right person before having to pay any cost.
My own Mother's death certificate has a lot of errors on it because the informant
thought her details were as they stated.
Best of luck.
Sandy
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Sueh2
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 537
Violet Ward 1902-1996
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Hi,
By "quite a bit" I mean between 5 and 10 years.
Sue
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Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukE Yorks: HALL, HARLEY, HARVEY, HULLAH, PORTER, PRESTON. Essex: HARVEY, SMITH. ONG, HUMM/HUME Norfolk: TUCK Lincs: ADAMS, HOLLAND. |
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aghadowey
Global Moderator
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 15027
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Sue- 5 to 10 years is really not that far off when you think of the ages people gave on census records (and they should have known how old they were!).
When I was 17 my grandmother died and I remember her 3 sons giving the information to the registrar for the death certificate, They kept asking me for the answers to the questions and when they got to the question 'where was her father born?' I was finally put on the phone. I said 'Liverpool' because I knew his parents had lived there. A few years later I discovered his parents had only moved to Liverpool when he was ten years old and was annoyed I'd given the wrong information. However, more recently I found that my great-grandfather was probably born in Liverpool (at a relatives' house)! Goodness knows who is listed as the informant for my grandmother's death certificate since there were so many of us on the phone that day.
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stanmapstone
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 7328
My answers only refer to England and Wales
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From "The Times" 21 Jan 1911.
"The Disclosure of Age"
'That is the point where trouble generally arises, if trouble there is. Women who are no longer very young and not yet very old have a traditional and unconquerable objection to saying exactly how old they are. One curious result is that the number of women who return themselves as aged from 20 to 25 exceeds at every Census the number of girls returned as from 10 to 15 at the previous Census.
Stan
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Sueh2
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 537
Violet Ward 1902-1996
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Thanks for that snippet Stan......made me smile and think about those boxes you get to tick on forms. You know the ones AGE 20-25, 25-35 etc and as you pass another birthday you suddenly realise that next time you fill out a form you'll be ticking the next box!! But I'm not saying which one.
Sue
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Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukE Yorks: HALL, HARLEY, HARVEY, HULLAH, PORTER, PRESTON. Essex: HARVEY, SMITH. ONG, HUMM/HUME Norfolk: TUCK Lincs: ADAMS, HOLLAND. |
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LizzieW
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3808
I will find you!!
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This could even happen today. I knew of a lady who according to her medical records and her son, was only about 75 when she died in 1998. In fact it turned out she was over 10 years older than that which was not found out until her son found her birth certificate! The funniest thing was that her son was aged about 68, but it hadn't occurre to him that his mother couldn't be only 7 years older than he was.
Liz
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BENSON- Dalton in Furness (Ulverston) and Hull
BETTISON - Derbys
BOULTON - Dalton-in-Furness and surrounding areas
BRAND - Lincs
COCKETT - Lincs, Yorks, Lancs
DA COSTA (or variants) - Spain or Portugal, London (Middx), ?Hull
GILCHRIST - Scotland, Lincs
HINGLEY - Derbys/Yorks
MANN - Sussex, Kent, Herts
MUMBY - Lincolnshire and Hull
PEMBERTON - Ches, Lancashire
STANTON - Lincs
ROBINSON - Lincs
WHITTAKER/WHITAKER - Ches/Lancs
WRIGHT- Bethnal Green
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stonechat
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1598
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My gt grandmother reduced a few years from her age during her second marriage.
If he had give age at death, it would presumably been wrong.
Is somoen is a lodger or staying with e.g. nieces, or such a person reports death, they may have little idea of the real age.
I have two or three times seen people with the same age at 2 successive censuses, so would never be surprised
Bob
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Douglas, Varnden, Joy(i)ce Surrey, Clarke Northants/Hunts, Pullen Worcs/Herefords, Holmes Birmingham/USA/Canada/Australia, Jackson Cheshire/Yorkshire, Lomas Cheshire, Lee Yorkshire, Cocks Lancashire, Leah Cheshire, Cook Yorkshire, Catlow Lancashire NOTE I have moved my website to http://www.cotswan.com |
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KiwiBrennan
RootsChat Moderator
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1748
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I have one woman who lowered her age on the marriage cert by 7 years as her husband to be was 10 years younger than her.
Also another one who on 4 consecutive census returns was aged 39, 39, 45, 47, but it was definitely the same person!!
Don't they make our lives interesting....
Bren
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LizzieW
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3808
I will find you!!
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I have a problem finding my g.grandfather, as lots of people will know by now! On the 1891 census he is 31 but on the 1901 census he is 43. Now, from the death certificate and family knowledge, I know my g.gran was actually 49 in 1891 when she said she was 42, so why would g.grandad make himself seem even younger than he perhaps was. Anyone would think that to make the "marriage" if there was one seem more respectable, he would have made himself older to be nearer to g.gran in age.
If he had been 31 in 1891 he would only have been 24 when my gran was born and his 'wife' 42. Some undertaking for a young fisherman. One of the reasons I can't find him is that I have no idea of even his year of birth.
Liz
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BENSON- Dalton in Furness (Ulverston) and Hull
BETTISON - Derbys
BOULTON - Dalton-in-Furness and surrounding areas
BRAND - Lincs
COCKETT - Lincs, Yorks, Lancs
DA COSTA (or variants) - Spain or Portugal, London (Middx), ?Hull
GILCHRIST - Scotland, Lincs
HINGLEY - Derbys/Yorks
MANN - Sussex, Kent, Herts
MUMBY - Lincolnshire and Hull
PEMBERTON - Ches, Lancashire
STANTON - Lincs
ROBINSON - Lincs
WHITTAKER/WHITAKER - Ches/Lancs
WRIGHT- Bethnal Green
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Sueh2
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 537
Violet Ward 1902-1996
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Well I think I'll just go for it and order a couple of certs. I do think that as people got old they added on years and were perceived as "very old" so when it came to registering deaths the age given to the registrar was a best guess. Also old people can get muddled and not know themselves their true age.
These days we are so much more aware of the ages of our elderly relatives because it has become the fashion to celebrate in style milestone birthdays ie 70, 80,90, but our ancestors I'm sure did not celebrate in quite the same way.
Sue
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Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukE Yorks: HALL, HARLEY, HARVEY, HULLAH, PORTER, PRESTON. Essex: HARVEY, SMITH. ONG, HUMM/HUME Norfolk: TUCK Lincs: ADAMS, HOLLAND. |
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yn9man
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1158
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Just a couple of brief points ...
The informant on the death certificate may or may not have know the correct or accurate information about the deceased individual. The individual who wrote up the death cert may have "mis heard" or just wrote down the wrong information.
Ages were not that important. I have several relatives who got younger in later census years.
yn9man
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Scotland - Adam, Galt, Jardine, Turnbull, Robertson, Murray, Allison, Mitchell, Brown, Younie, Key, McGilvrea, Mellis/ Mellice, McHutcheon, Auchincloss, Jardine, Rae
England - Saunders, Williams/Wyllams, Charlton, McKey, Lance, Jory, Ellis, Trounson, Dingle,
Hambridge, Sweetman/Sweatman, Ricks/Rix, Cole, Shearwood, Brooks
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