8 year census?

[jenjenmm]

Hi
Sorry if this has been asked before but:

I am sure that I have the same person's census and between the 1851 and the 1861 census-all of the people aged just 8 years and it happened again between the 1861 and 1871 census.

Has anyone else had this happen and does anyone know why this happened? I am just guessing that the census process took some time to do so it may have been 8 years when they were recorded and 10 years when the census was officially issued.

Jen

[nanny jan]

Hi Jen,

A census was taken every 10 years so perhaps people did not know their exact age; I have discrepancies regarding ages on most of my lines!

Nanny Jan

[GeoffE]

Anything you find in a census is 100% reliable ...

except

An individual's first name
Their second name (and its spelling)
Their relationship to Head of Household
Their Marital Condition
Their age
Their occupation
The country/county/town of birth
Whether or not they were actually in the house on census night

I may have missed a few things, but you get the picture.

[stanmapstone]

I am just guessing that the census process took some time to do so it may have been 8 years when they were recorded and 10 years when the census was officially issued.

Jen

See http://www.british-genealogy.com/resources/census/index.htm for details of how the censuses were carried out.

Stan