EIC service records - do they exist and how does one consult them?

[jbml]

Jane's age at burial in 1839 is given as 16 ... which makes the FreeReg date of birth (1821) look none too far wrong.

So that means I should probably be accepting of Eliza's date of birth per FreeReg (1818) as not too far out, either ... this certainly fits better with her husband's age (born circa 1815) BUT this does  then cause an issue with the age given in the 1851 census ... which is 21!

I've checked the Schedule and there's no doubt that it says 21 not 31.

However, we're already speculating that the enumerator mis-transcribed a poorly-written return and turned "Som. Taunton" into Southampton ... so might he equally have mistranscribed her age and turned 21 into 31? It certainly seems that Eliza's handwriting was marginal at best. When she married she signed her name ... but when she registered her last child's birth in 1861 she made her mark (her husband registered their other three children, so those certificates provide no useful evidence).

[hanes teulu]

Have you checked the 1846 marriage of John Escott and Charlotte Cook - transcript on FindMyPast? They can be found in King Street in 1851.
Do you have a Census reference for Eliza in 1851?

[jbml]

Eliza was married in 1849 and I have her in the 1851 census OK. She is then said to be 21 years old!

The interesting thing is that the witnesses to her marriage were Thomas and Elizabeth Escott ... I HAD put them down as her father and step-mother, assuming a remarriage which I hadn't been able to trace (I first followed this line when a LOT of parishregisters were still unavailable online).

I found a Thomas and Elizabeth Escott, Thomas being a cordwainer born in Taunton, who I followed through the censuses ... but now we have the 1841 census entry in King Street Taunton and have deaths for BOTH Thomas and Ann, I am thinking that they must be her brother and sister-in-law.

This then begs the question ... why was Thomas-the-brother not baptised alongside Eliza and Janet. I think the answer to that it probably that he was away somewhere as an apprentice ... but unfortunately there does not appear to be an apprenticeship record.

John Escott and Charlotte Cook are looking like the John of the 1841 census alright ... oh WHY don't family history jigsaws come with a picture on the box lid??

[jbml]

Thanks for all the help, guys ... I think we've got enough pieces of the jigsaw now to conclude safely that Thomas and Ann Escott were married in about 1807 ... which means that they are NOT the couple married in India in 1811. I will therefore mark the enquiry as concluded.

As to where they WERE married, though, this remains unclear ... which is a shame, as without it I doubt I shall ever find Ann's maiden name.