Place of Birth on Census

[Jetstream]

I am wondering how reliable are the Places of Birth listed on the Census, especially 1891.

A family member I am searching for has his place of birth as Southampton, but there is no record of this event at this place or in surrounding towns.

Is such information on a census reliable?.   
 

[sjsbc]

Hi,

The information on the census is only as accurate as the person who gave it or the enumerator who wrote it.  The transcription of a census is also open to error.

You will see entries on this site where individuals have had different places of birth on every census and others whose ages vary wildly!

Try finding the person on a different census and compare the details.  Look at the actual census page if possible and see if it does read Southampton.  If you can't find them on another census try posting on this site, with as much detail as possible, and see if someone can locate the entry for you.

If you can't find the birth record of the immediate relative, try looking for a sibbling.

Hope this gives you something to work with

Sue

[Jetstream]

Sue,

Thanks for your reply.

The place of birth is definately Southampton, and so I can only presume that he was unaware of his place of birth or for some reason decided to tell an untruth.
I have posted on this site re. this birth and searches have been made without success.
The big problem is that the family moved around, and so I have found no trace on 1871, 81 census.
Research is made difficult by the continuing doubt of info, that becomes available from Census. BMD etc.

Thanks indeed for your help.