Me again, not really any further forward - yet!:-)
to re-cap
Sarah Frances O'Connor was born in Tipperary in the 1880s, moved to Liverpool, England with her family c 1900. Her son (my Pa in law who is 91) tells me his mother's birthday was 21st January.
I have her parents' mariage record which states they married on 21st Feb 1882
England census 1901, she is listed as being 16, born Ireland
England census 1911, she is listed as being 27, born Ireland, Tipperary
Everything on those 2 census returns checks out with what we know about the family.
The family have a birth cert, issued in 1917 (applied for from England, just before she married) for Sarah Frances O'Connor
it reads: 1889 Births registered in District of Kilcooley, Union of Urlingford, County Tipperary
Date and place of birth: 21st Jan 1889, Name Sarah Frances O'Connor, Father: Daniel O'Connor of Mellasane, Mother: Catherine O'Connor formerly Delaney, Father's occupation: Farmer,
Informant: Margaret Butler (X, her mark) present at the birth, New Birmingham, Registered 29th Jan 1889.
My puzzle was that the year on the birth cert was not consistent with the info given on 2 census returns.
I checked the Irish GRO Register and could not find a registration in 1889 for a child called Sarah, surname O'Connor, Connor, Connors which puzzled me further.
I 'could' find a likely registration for a Sarah Connors registered in Q1 1883 so I applied for a photocopy of the entry.
That came today and reads:
1883 Births registered in District of Kilcooley, Union of Urlingford, County Tipperary
Date and place of birth: 21st Jan 1883, Name Sarah (no middle name recorded) Connors, Father: Daniel Connors of Mellasane, Mother: Catherine Connors formerly Delaney, Father's occupation: Farmer,
Informant: Margaret Butler (X, her mark) present at the birth, New Birmingham, Registered 29th Jan 1883.
I accept that sometimes a child died and the family would later use the same name for a subsequent child, but the absence of an 1889 birth reg and the odds against two children being born on exactly the same day and month but 6 years apart are fairly high so, at the moment, that scenario is doubtful.
I have emailed the GRO in Ireland to ask if the scans they issue are from the 'original, completed at the time of registration' register or if they are from a 'copy of the original register made by the local registrar who then kept the original records and sent the copy register to the GRO central office' (as would have happened in England, I have no idea what would have happened in Ireland)
I have also sent off an enquiry form to the Tipperary Family History Research office in Tipperary where the RC Parish records are held. I have asked if there are baptisms for a child of this name and parents in both/either 1883 and 1889 with the intention of buying copies of both if they exist.
I (and my Pa in law) are still leaning towards the theory that the cert issued in 1917 was mistranscribed by a busy registrar who put down 1889 (3 times!) in error. Sarah received the cert and thought Yes! I am now only 2 years older than my intended, rather than 6 :-) Further records (her marriage and death certs) show that she stuck to being born in 1889 from there on.
So still not solved my problem, but am taking baby steps to get to the bottom of it.
If anyone can think of other lines to pursue if the steps don't resolve the puzzle, I'd be interested.
Boo