Age on Death Certs

[Simplex4wd]

My family tend to "forget" birthdays once a certain age is reached - used to be 21 it's probably down to 18 now. It's not surprising that death ages can be wrong, I've got my wifes grandfathers d/cert (informant his son) and the date of birth is given together with location but I've been unable to trace a birth cert and other members of the family think he was born elsewhere
Also, in the past, people died in the workhouse so the informant probably didn't know the correct age, only what they'd been told.

Tim

[Ecneps]

Hi Tim,
have you posted the details so we can help you look for him?
Barbara

[Simplex4wd]

Barbara,
It was a slightly unfair example because he was believed to be adopted, in 1900, one family legend is that he was the son of a Roman Catholic priest , another that he came from the Isle of Man (surname Kelly ) I'll dig out what I know when I'm back on that branch.

Tim

[Redroger]

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

Reminds me of some of the profiles on this site

[Jean McGurn]

My g.g.grandfather was born in 1846 and died in 1903 however his wife who registered the death, said he was 49 yrs old 

As he was 6 years older than g.g.grandmother I suppose she must have just guessed his age as I don't think it would have been a case of knocking a few years off his age. Funny thing for the last three census records he only aged by about 6 or 7 years, haven't worked that one out yet as his children aged the usual 10 years 

Jean

[Redroger]

Jean, That is a commonly used device to equalise age differences over a census or two. My grandparents married in 1894, His age was given as 55, hers as 35. Hers was correct, his dob was 1828 or earlier making him at least 66 and probably a little older still.

[IgorStrav]

Well, all I'm telling you is that at my last birthday I removed 5 years from my age and announced my intention never to get any older than that (as long as I can get away with it, that is  )

I've convinced myself now.  When the opthalmologist recently asked how old I was, I had to think really hard. 

I'd not be a good informant for my own certificate 

[Redroger]

In "Life with the Lyons" Mother played by Bebe Daniels was always 32. In one episode her own mother appeared, also 32! At least 2 British MPs that I know of have been economical with the facts as to their own ages, one is actually getting younger, while the other is static.