Civil service evidence of age

[Joed99]

Hi

Could anyone explain why my ancestor might have needed to proof his age.

 I came across this entry (John Knaggs 1864.jpg attached) in Find my Past, Civil service evidence of age, collection some time ago when I had access but failed to realise there was also a page 1 which might have offered more info.

Many Thanks

John

[stanmapstone]

The site also announced that subscribers would also be able to view the Civil Service Evidence of Age index.
This contains the dates of birth or baptism for 64,300 people born between 1752 and 1948, many of whose births do not appear in the central birth registers for England and Wales.
Miss Collins said: "The records were created after 1855 when the Civil Service Commission came into being and required applicants to both the Civil Service entry examinations and its pension scheme to provide evidence of age.
"For those whose births had not been registered in England and Wales, declarations as to birth were submitted, often in the form of hand-written letters."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1570899/Online-data-boost-for-family-tree-researchers.html

Stan