Early Assumptions

[clairec666]

False assumptions:

1) People had a fairly good idea how old they were. WRONG. My ggg-grandfather managed to "lose" 7 years during his lifetime.

2) People knew how many children they had. WRONG. Several examples of the 1911 census prove otherwise.

3) Parents used different names for all their children. WRONG. The worst offenders in my family had two Williams and three Charlottes, all of whom died as infants. Another family had two Thomases who both lived to adulthood - I guess they were known by their middle names.

[coombs]

I assumed that everyone knew their DOB and even before civil reg begun, they had their DOB written down and was strictly recorded, and everyone knew exactly how old they were. How wrong I was.

Assuming that an illegitimate person whose mother never married and whom put a made up fathers name on their marriage did that because they knew who their father was and he was the real father.