I'm not quite a FH beginner, but it's a sort of basic question as it's the first time I've had to deal with it - were these terms interchangeable at all? I've got four George Langstaffes in a small parish in the 1700s - I won't bore you with all the details but every time I think I'm making progress in getting all the records allocated to each of them correctly, I find something else that doesn't quite fit and confuses me all over again...
As just one example of many, I found the grave of the one referred to as Senior in the BTs - on the back is a memorial to his son, Thomas. But when I check for matching baptisms, the only likely hit comes up to George the Elder. But surely Senior and The Elder have to be different people, right?
Certainly on the attached, it shows three distinct couples in 1766 anyway.
My working theory is that Snr & Jnr would be father & son, obviously, while Elder & Younger might be cousins of Jnr. Or one might even be a step-brother perhaps as there were several remarriages in this case.
Also, come to think of it, when a Senior or The Elder died, would Jnr and The Younger 'take their names' if there was another relative of the same name approaching adulthood? So say when Senior dies, would Junior be 'promoted' if he has a son of the same name that will shortly be getting married?