William MATTHEWS 1773 ish - 1855 {Broadwell} Lane End (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, January 23, 2012, 21:40 (4483 days ago) @ unknown

Hi Roger,
you have understood the Census correctly. Yes, on the 30th March 1851 the Head of the household, William, stated he was aged 76, a ripe old age. However as per my earlier post, and the words of others in various reference websites & books, this was never checked against any official records (there were none). The vast majority of "normal" people would only have had an approximate idea of their birthyear, give or take a year or two, it just didn't matter in those days. Between each Census night it's probable no-one else had asked William's age for any reason. Furthermore, it's been shown many times that as a person got older, so their quoted "age" would often change from Census to Census, sometimes accidentally thro poor memory etc, sometimes deliberately; ladies often "lose" a few years as they get older, especially at their marriage if they were actually older than the groom which was considered badform. If you study Slowhands' post of the 1841 & 1851 Census you'll see significant variations in the quoted ages (hence supposed birthdates) of the same members of the same household.
Please, if the only evidence you have of William's precise birthyear is a Census return, please be prepared to accept this is quite possibly in error.