The marriage certificate from 1868 shows her as 28. The census from 1881 has her age 37, 1901 56 and 1911 she's 70.
Pensions were introduced in Britain in 1909 for eligible old people. Applicants had to provide proof of age. Many Irish people found out their real age for the first time.
Wow, that's interesting. Thanks. What was the reason for them not knowing, do you think?
Knowing one's age wasn't important. An adult may have been asked his or her age only a few times in adulthood e.g. marriage, census, emigration, perhaps by a potential employer. They might forget what age they'd said on a previous occasion. Some might have chosen an age convenient to circumstance, e.g. wanting to seem young and fit to get a job or a marriage partner.
Bridget was born around 20 years before registration of births began in Ireland and long before compulsory education began in Ireland or Britain.
Ages of my Irish grandfather's family were all over the place. Almost 2 decades difference between ages on 1901 and 1911 censuses. Irish grandmother's family were consistent about age. Her parents didn't get around to registering the birth of one of her sisters though.
Some of my English ancestors had notable age inconsistencies too. One female ancestor and her children were lodgers on 1851 and 1861 census; whoever filled in census forms may have estimated her age on both occasions. My eldest uncle added a year to his age on 1939 census.
