1851 Census Puzzle

[Kodiak3000]

I know that Robert Tullis (or Tully if you believe his marriage record) married Anne Nicholson in 1849 in Kirkliston. I have a copy of the West Lothian Census for 1851, and a search for the name Tullis turns out a short list, two names of which are Robert and Anne. Great, you say, but their ages are 4 and 1. The problem is that they are given as the son (fine) and daughter-in-law (!?!) of the Head, whose name is James Laurie. This is so far beyond confusing I can't begin to process it. Can anybody shed any light?

Thanks in advance,
Leslie

[Boongie Pam]

Is it a copy of the original enumerator's page?

Pam
 

[Kodiak3000]

Hi Pam,
The copy I have is not, but I went to our local area history centre to check the original, and it has been copied correctly.  The codes they used are different (ie daur-in-law instead of DL on my copy) but they add up to the same result.  Now, I don't know if what we have is the original census taker's notes (I doubt it) or the transcription of that into the "official" book (this is what I suspect, as this is what these records are for the most part), but either way, I'm still confused.

Thanks for writing.

[Boongie Pam]

In 1881 I have a family where the entry is a complete and utter mess.  The ages are against the wrong people and relationships are incorrect again against the wrong people.

All backed up by the original enumerator page.  It lead me to suspect that the householders return was confused and the poor enumerator had as much fun working it out as I did.

So in your case it could be an enumerator mistake or daughter in law could be being used as the term to mean "step-daughter".  Have you any idea where they might be in 1861?  It may be worth trying to find any of the named, if you find an 11 year old Robert Tullis then you know where you are.

Do you expect your Robert to be there in 1861?

I think I have access to this film in the central library but I won't be able to get there until after Easter.  If you need me to look it up then please PM me to remind me (I'll of had a wine sodden trip to Italy before then!).
 
Cheers,
Pam
 

[Kodiak3000]

Hi Pam,
I'd love to see them in 1861 - I'm relying on the local history centre's copies of the censuses, and they're not indexed, so I can only look at the same address again 10 years later - and they're not there.  They were on a farm - Almondhill farm in Kirkliston -  in 1851, presumably as workers, but neither my family (Tullis) nor the family they were "mixed up" with (Laurie) was there in 1861, so I don't know where else to look.

Then there is the possibility that these are the wrong Tullis's anyway - I KNOW that Robert and Annie were "of this parish" in Kirkliston in 1849, because that's when they married, but that doesn't necessarily mean they stayed there until 1851, let alone 1861.

Since what I was expecting to find was a Robert Tullis aged in his 20s at least, and an Annie Tullis, Robert's wife, (not a 4 and 1 year old), I don't know whether to assume the error is in the relationship or the age, but clearly there is an error.

If you (or anyone else) has any suggestions about how to go about looking for this couple in 1861 when I don't know where they lived, I'd sure like to know....

....any idea when Scotland's People will be making these earlier censuses available online?  The index is the thing that helps the most...

[Boongie Pam]

For the love of indexes!  I'm hoping it will be this year but Scotlandspeople don't seem to be commiting. 

Have you found any children born to Robert Tullis on Scotlands people?

This may help isolate them.

I'll have a scroll through the Kirkliston census - hopes are low though because I have Midlothian family and the parishes are small and well serviced with roads etc so seem to aid the movement of families.  But you might get lucky 

All the best,
Pam