Esther Beach b 26 May 1850 (General)

by Paul Andrews , Shropshire, England, Saturday, August 03, 2013, 01:10 (4133 days ago) @ mpowell831

"Just a quick question though, the 1861 Census had Esther being 10 which would mean she was born in 1850 or so. On Henry and Esther's marriage certificate which was dated 1868 it had her listed as 20 years old. Therefore, there's a couple years gap in some of the documentation. Is this relatively common in some of the research you've done and documents you've seen?"

The birth certificate states she was born 26 May 1850. It appears that she was less than economical with the truth over her age on the marriage record.

In general terms it is not unusual to find that there are discrepancies in dates/ages. Differences can occur for a number of reasons. On the 1841 Census ages of people under 15 years were recorded as stated. People between 15 and 20 years were recorded as 15, people between 20 and 25 years were recorded as 20, etc. Also on all census returns the enumerator will enter what he hears or thinks he hears, the person giving the information may not know the age of the person:- e.g. Servants or lodgers. On death records again it depends who is giving the information; someone close to the deceased you would expect to be fairly accurate, however with someone dying alone the person recording the event may only be able to give an estimate.