what do you make of this ?

[Eking]

I have someone who appears twice on the 1861 census with different ages and places of birth but is definitely the same person.

Here are all the details for her - Emma Isted

birth ref  -  1846 Brentford Registration district
baptism  -  Nov 1848 Twickenham - this is a couple of months after her younger sister was baptised ( why not have them baptised together

1851 census Twickenham
James Isted      age 29 born Buxted, Sussex
Mary Ann Isted age    29 born Buxted, Sussex
James  Isted     age   11 born Buxted, Sussex
Thomas Isted   age 9   born Twickenham, Middx
Charles Isted   age 7   born Twickenham, Middx
Emma Isted     age  5  born Twickenham, Middx

Mary Isted      age   3  born Twickenham, Middx

so age and place of birth would fit with birth ref

1861 Twickenham

Emma Isted Lodger    age   15   bornTwickenham, Middx
Henry Isted Nursechild age    4 born Twickenham, Middx

so age and place of birth consistent. Henry is her brother. Mother has died and father remarried

but she appears on 1861 census with her father and  family with different age and place of birth

1861 Richmond
James Isted age 40 born Buxted 
Anne Isted age 39  born Twickenham
Emma Isted age 12 born Kennington
Mary Ann Isted age 11 born Twickenham
George Isted age 9  born Twickenham

Kennington is not Brentford district

1871

James Isted 51yrs b Buxted
Ann 48yrs b Twickenham, Middlesex
Emma 21yrs (single) b Kennington, Surrey
Henry 13yrs b Twickenham  Scholar

can't find in 1881 - not with her father

1891

James Isted age 72  - no place of birth listed
Wife Anne age 66  - born Twickenham
Daughter Emma age 42  - born Kennington, London


she died Jan1899 age 51

so all the later census put her as being born 1848 but her sister was born then. I can understand women lying about their ages later on in life ( her sisters ages fluctuate too)  but why at the age of 15 would they knock a few years of her age ? Maybe it was the stepmother giving the info.

[Manchester Rambler]

I can think of 2 possible explanations - doubtless there are more!

1)  It occasionally happens that someone who is absent from their usual address on census night is mistakenly recorded there by the head of household, as well as at the address where they are actually staying.

2)  Did stepmother have children of her own from a previous marriage?  If so, the 12 yr-old Emma in 1861 may be hers, and not Henry's - stepchildren commonly took their stepfather's surname.  This would mean there were 2 different daughters named Emma Isted....

MR

[Eking]

re  1) yes , but age and place of birth wrong ?
re 2) I never really thought of that one -

i.e Emma (born Kennington)  being Ann's daughter as opposed to James's daughter.

in 1891 there is a lodger

Lodger in house - Sarah Perryman, married, aged 23 born Kennington - so i wonder what the Kennington connection is

and in 1871
daughter Alice Knight (married)  24yrs b Twickenham who I presumed was Ann's daughter ( maiden name White). But Ann was listed as spinster when she married in 1859. This Alice would have been born  c1847 so it is possible that this is 'first' Emma.

A one name researcher has extracted all the GRO records for the name ISTED and I don't think there are any possible deaths or marriages for 'first' Emma.



I have just looked back at my notes and have Emma's baptism as February ( not November as stated above) and also has her middle name as Alice.

[Eking]

Mystery partly solved

I have found a marriage for the Emma (born Twickenham) and whats more her son went on to marry her niece.

so now I just have to confirm that the Emma born Kennington was James's stepdaughter that took his name

[Old Laughin Lady]

I too have come across this during my searches,:-
Birth extract says Alexina Craig was born 13 September 1830 Stranraer Scotland
Her age on the 1871 census says 34 still in Stranraer Scotland.
Her age on the 1901 census is 65 now in Paisley with her daughter
She died on 12 November 1908 aged 63 in Paisley Scotland.
All extracts and images hold the same links ie parents, daughter etc so it is the same person. Thats 15 years of a difference !!

Wonder if she told the fibs or it was recorded wrongly??