Cornwall / Ellen Angove

[Trevellian]

Hi,

I am trying to establish the parents of Ellen Angove who was born in Illogan, Cornwall around 1850. On her marriage certificate in 1875 she is stated as 21, and correspondingly is stated as 25 in the 1881 census. Naturally this suggests she was born around 1855/6, but there is no corresponding birth entry for around these years even with some leniency. Rather, there is an Ellen Angove born Q'2 1849, to a mother with the maiden name Allen. On Ellen's marriage certificate her father is stated as an Abel Angove, and I have found an Abel Angove marrying a Catherine Allen and so this would all seem to match up - if it wasn't for the age discrepancy. I know it's only a few years out but I still thought it was strange to be the same wrong age repeatedly. Could it be she pretended to be 21 when she married so as to not need to obtain parental consent, and then continued this false age for the enumerator in the 1881 Census?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[garstonite]

Hi Trevellian and a warm welcome to Rootschat

this is from Rootspoint - 1861 census - all born Illogan ,Cornwall and Catherines mother is with them
Broad Lane
Klogan, Cornwall
Household Members:    
Abel Angove (60, Male)
Catherine Angove (48, Female)
Mary Ann Angove (20, Female)
William Angove (17, Male)
John Allen Angove (15, Male)
Ellen Angove (11, Female)
Catherine Allen (75, Female
So - I think you must be right in saying a little white lie on the marriage details - she would have been 25 when she married - not under 21 as you suggest - she may have been one of those ladies who "knocked off " a few years of her age 
other members thoughts appreciated please

this looks to be Abel Angoves parents marrying in 1796 ( wife Elizabeth Uren - a nice easy surname to trace back )
https://gw.geneanet.org/snowmedic?n=angove&oc=&p=abel

[pinefamily]

Welcome to Rootschat.
It was not uncommon for a woman or sometimes even a man to take a few years off their age to be closer to their spouse's age.

[philipsearching]

this looks to be Abel Angoves parents marrying in 1796 ( wife Elizabeth Uren - a nice easy surname to trace back )
https://gw.geneanet.org/snowmedic?n=angove&oc=&p=abel

And a warm welcome to Rootschat from me.

A tip: be prepared for spelling variants - I have seen Uren written as Youren in parish registers.
The Cornwall Online Parish Clerk website https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/ is a good starting point.
FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/en/ has images of many Cornwall parish registers.

Philip

[Girl Guide]

Welcome to Rootschat 

Nothing new in a woman knocking years off her age.    I have an instance of that where a great grandmother knocked ten years off her age so that she appeared a similar age to her husband.

It can cause confusion, but if you have the marriage certificate you can use the father's name to check on census records to see what age she is pre marriage.

[Trevellian]

Thank you everyone for your advice. It definitely seems possible Ellen 'knocked a few years off' her age to be 21 on the marriage certificate. It is still a bit puzzling however, as the groom, William Billing Sloggett, is 25 and so it makes me wonder why Ellen would have brought her age down when it had been equal (or very near) to her husband? I could understand the logic if it had been the other way around to bring her up to the same age, but I don't see the logic to what seems to be the case here. It is almost certain this is the 'right' Ellen Angove though, born c. 1850 to Abel Angove and Catherine Allen.