1939 Register

[LizzieL]

Be Very weary  of DOB given in the 1939 Register !
I have been Bombarded recently by Ancestry 1939 Register Entries
Have found Loads of DOB entries that DO NOT match the actual BIRTH CERTS
What's that about ?
Did they not know ?
Or Did they Lie ?

I have found several DOBs where the day and month are correct but the year is one year out. This includes my grandfather who was a twin! His twin brother is correct though.

I wondered if the householder form asked for actual date of birth or just age and birth day and month, and an incorrect calculation made to get year of birth. It seems odd that they were one year out.

I was looking to see if I could find the oldest person 1939 register and I came across a Mary Davey in Brighton whose dob was recorded as 3 Jun 32 (the enumerator only recorded last two digits of year of birth). No occupation was originally recorded for her, but someone has written in red later "at school". Then there is a further addition where someone has made it clear her year of birth was 1832 and added the note "centenarian" in the occupation column. The lady died the following year aged 108 and checks out through censuses as being born in Clayton, Sussex and bapt in Clayton on 12 May 1833 d/o Henry and Charlotte Davey