Monumental Inscriptions - What does 'in the 23rd Year of her Age' mean

[Tickettyboo]

This made me smile, my Granda did that all his life about his age.
For instance when he was 70 he declared that morning he was in his 71st year. As far as I know he'd done it since he was a child and continued right up to his last birthday.

With the result that when his death was registered his age was (unintentionally) given incorrectly - by a year :-)

Boo

[karen58]

. So clearly a time related convention of expression.

[Top-of-the-hill]

  I found another version of this today, which had me baffled; "he had nearly reached the completion of his 81st year". This was a newspaper obituary in 1921, and thankfully it gave his birth date a bit later, so I didn't have to unravel it!