1901 & 1911 census ages don’t match

[Lisa in California]

I’m trying to find a family living in County Cork (around 1900-1911). Due to privacy issues, I prefer not to share names, etc.; I hope that is ok.

In 1901, the parents are recorded as ages 56 and 45.  In 1911, they are recorded as 73 and 60.  One son did age by 10 years from 1901 to 1911.  The other children apparently left home by 1911.

Was it common for adult ages to be so far off in the 1911 census?  (I believe the father’s 1901 age was accurate.)  Thank you for reading my post.  Lisa

Added:  or, is it more likely that there were two families with very similar details.  Thank you.

[Wexflyer]

I’m trying to find a family living in County Cork (around 1900-1911). Due to privacy issues, I prefer not to share names, etc.; I hope that is ok.

In 1901, the parents are recorded as ages 56 and 45.  In 1911, they are recorded as 73 and 60.  One son did age by 10 years from 1901 to 1911.  The other children apparently left home by 1911.

Was it common for adult ages to be so far off in the 1911 census?  (I believe the father’s 1901 age was accurate.)  Thank you for reading my post.  Lisa

Added:  or, is it more likely that there were two families with very similar details.  Thank you.

Privacy issues? They are all long dead.
And you are in California.

[KGarrad]

Were the ages entered by the people themselves?
Or by a relative or an enumerator?
Or are you looking at a transcript?

And, I agree with Wexflyer! Privacy laws don't apply to the deceased.

[Lisa in California]

True  but I’m searching for someone else.  I believe a friend is descended from this family.  I believe the correct usage of the term NPE applies to my friend’s mother.  Numerous descendants of this family have online family trees; it is quite likely that they don’t know about the NPE.  For that reason, I prefer to keep the surname and details off of the internet.

I’m not used to looking at “recent” census images.  I will look again to see who filled out the forms.

Thank you both for your interest. 

[Kiltaglassan]

In 1901, the parents are recorded as ages 56 and 45.  In 1911, they are recorded as 73 and 60. 

Was it common for adult ages to be so far off in the 1911 census? 

The jump in your adult's age in 1911 was due to the introduction of Old Age Pensions, because people entitled to a pension at the time didn't have birth certificates. The earlier censuses were used to check ages and people mistakenly thought by increasing their age in 1911 it would help get a pension early, but it didn't.

The old age pension (OAP) came into effect in January 1909 for anyone over 70 years of age. To qualify the person had to be born in 1839 or earlier. This was an immediate problem as birth registration did not start until 1864 in Ireland so no one could verify their age. The difficulty was solved by checking the 1841 and 1851 census for the required ages. By 1911, people knew that the censuses were being used to establish age and so anyone near pension age might be tempted to add a few years (often 10 years or more) on thinking it might help.

So your 1901 census ages might be more reliable than the 1911 census.

[Wexflyer]

True  but I’m searching for someone else.  I believe a friend is descended from this family.  I believe the correct usage of the term NPE applies to my friend’s mother.  Numerous descendants of this family have online family trees; it is quite likely that they don’t know about the NPE.

If you didn't mention it, no one would have been any the wiser.

[Lisa in California]

The enumerator and head of household signed the 1901 and 1911 census returns.

True  but I’m searching for someone else.  I believe a friend is descended from this family.  I believe the correct usage of the term NPE applies to my friend’s mother.  Numerous descendants of this family have online family trees; it is quite likely that they don’t know about the NPE.

If you didn't mention it, no one would have been any the wiser.

I posted an unrelated DNA question about my friend and this mystery family a couple of days ago.  I was trying to slide under the radar with this posting, otherwise I would have openly posted details. 


Thank you very much, Kiltaglassan.  Your explanation is very interesting.  My own Irish ancestors were all in Canada by 1850, so reading about Irish happenings I find interesting.