Change of birth location

[NessaUK]

I've been doing some research into a relative of mine, and noticed that on each of the census' he was in from 1851 to 1891, he has changed the name of the birth town each time. I know I have the right person, as the list of his children are the same. Am just curious as to why he would change it? Rebelling at the system maybe??

[KGarrad]

He may have been born in one place, but grew up in another?
Later in life, his memory is only of where he grew up?

Also, the further from the original place, the more "general" the place becomes.

I come from a town in North Somerset, but invariably tell people that I am from Bristol.
More so now that  I am living on the Isle of Man.
And, when I was living in the Netherlands, I usually just said I was from the West of England.

It saves on minutes spent on geography lessons!

[dowdstree]

What KGarrad says happens lots of times when you are researching someone.

I have had this happen to me many times but when you know for certain that you have the correct person it sometimes gives me a laugh.

One man in particular was born and brought up in Scotland (I have his birth certificate). He moved to England, married and had a family there. On the census for a few years he says born in Scotland and latterly it changes to England 
Threw me for a bit. Change of Country too !!!
So I don't put too much emphasis on place of birth in any census.

Dorrie

[stanmapstone]

The chief clerk of the GRO claimed that the birthplace tables were probably the most inaccurate of any of the census tables..... a great many people did not know in which county they were born. There was also a tendency to record the place of residence, or the earliest one which could be remembered, as the place of birth.
Stan

[LizzieL]

And if someone was a lodger or a servant, the head of household may not even have bothered to ask their place of birth, just put down the place they said they were from at the point they entered their household.
Parents (particularly mothers) recording pob of their children is usually most accurate.
Also for census up to and including 1901, what we see is the enumerator's book where he (and later she) will have copied the details from the householder's schedules. Mistakes may be made when they copied, skipped a line, muddled adjacent people etc.

[Ruskie]

How different are the places of birth Nessa?