Pamela, I have just had a look at the entry. I have, in the past, noticed that enumerators were not consistent with entries, particularly if the relationship was not straight forward i.e. wife/son/daughter or a commercial relationship servant, paying lodger. Visitor and lodger also are misused. I also suspect people were not often clear about who the old lady in the corner was. Remember the relationship is to the head and I don't think "mother of head" is a recognised relationship so lodger will do and, unless you have other evidence, from the census alone, we cannot assume Elizabeth the widow is Josephs mother. She may be an aunt or cousin or some other random Pawley The census has no feelings it is merely a statistical exercise. Cheers Paul -----Original Message----- From: DEVON [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pamela Willcocks Sent: 03 September 2017 20:23 To: [email protected] Subject: [DEV] 1851 CENSUS: LODGER VS PARENT Re the census: a parent living with family is usually shown as such. That is, a mother or mother-in-law of the head of household. Or father of course. I see just as many documented as "lodger". Some have "of independent means" or "annuitant" in the occupation column. The one mum I've found simply states lodger and widow. (Elizabeth PAWLEY of Ugborough). That's a bit cold. What was the purpose of not being straightforward with mother or father? cheers, pamela --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ------------------------------------------ The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) List archive for Devon can be found at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=devon ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message