Hello All Does anybody know how accurate Places of birth are on Census returns, My John Robson who has been well documented on here is an Example as follows; on the 1861 Census he says he was born in Bishopwearmouth, however after checking the Gro Births for 1840, there was no John Robson birth Registered in Bishopwearmouth/ Sunderland, could it be his family moved there when he was a child and so he assumed he was born there?. Thanks Allan Robson

Ages can be wrong and often are but It's quite possible his birth was never registered, it wasn't compulsory until the 1870's.  You are more likely to find a Baptism. Daphne   --- On Tue, 10/11/09, Allan Robson <allandrobson@btinternet.com> wrote: From: Allan Robson <allandrobson@btinternet.com> Subject: [ENG-DURHAM] Accurate Birthplaces on Census Returns To: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com Date: Tuesday, 10 November, 2009, 11:21 Hello All Does anybody know how accurate Places of birth are on Census returns, My John Robson who has been well documented on here is an Example as follows; on the 1861 Census he says he was born in Bishopwearmouth, however after checking the Gro Births for 1840, there was no John Robson birth Registered in Bishopwearmouth/ Sunderland, could it be his family moved there when he was a child and so he assumed he was born there?. Thanks Allan Robson ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-DURHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Actually it was compulsory from 1837 but there was no penalty for failing to register a birth until 1875. There was a penalty for late registration in the 1836 Act. Registration was compulsory in the case of the Registrar. The onus was on him to collect births and deaths and he could be fined for failure to register them. In carrying out his duties the parents were compelled, under the Act to supply the information when asked. The Act states the parent or occupier 'shall' give information to the Registrar on a birth 'upon being requested to do so.' The registrars also had an incentive to register as they were paid for the entries viz. for the first Twenty Entries of Births and Deaths in every Year which he shall have registered, whether the same be of Births or of Deaths indiscriminately, Two Shillings and Sixpence each, and One Shilling for every subsequent Entry of Births or Deaths in each Year. In fact two registrars were jailed for fraudulent entries. In one case births and the other births and deaths. There are a number of cases in the early years of registration where people were taken to court and fined for refusing to supply the information to the Registrar when asked. The first Registrar General estimated a 5% non-registration rate for births 1837-76, declining from 6.9% in 1841-50 to 1.8% in 1861-70. Stan Mapstone -----Original Message----- From: DAPHNE HUGHES <daphneandphil@btinternet.com> To: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com Sent: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:40 Subject: Re: [ENG-DURHAM] Accurate Birthplaces on Census Returns Ages can be wrong and often are but It's quite possible his birth was never egistered, it wasn't compulsory until the 1870's. You are more likely to find Baptism. Daphne --- On Tue, 10/11/09, Allan Robson <allandrobson@btinternet.com> wrote: rom: Allan Robson <allandrobson@btinternet.com> ubject: [ENG-DURHAM] Accurate Birthplaces on Census Returns o: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com ate: Tuesday, 10 November, 2009, 11:21 ello All oes anybody know how accurate Places of birth are on Census returns, My John obson who has been well documented on here is an Example as follows; on the 1861 Census he says he was born in Bishopwearmouth, however after hecking the Gro Births for 1840, there was no John Robson birth Registered in ishopwearmouth/ Sunderland, could it be his family moved there when he was a hild and so he assumed he was born there?. Thanks llan Robson ------------------------------- o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-DURHAM-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-DURHAM-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message

Hi Allan The simple answer is the birthplace is only as good or as accurate as it was given As you suggest, people assumed they were born somewhere because that is their earliest recollection, others deliberately gave false or misleading information for one reason or another Unless the enumerator knew differently, the birthplace given on the household schedule would be taken as given, it is also possible the enumerator misread the handwriting on the householders schedule and entered his interpretation of the birthplace (the schedules were destroyed long ago) Have you found him in any other census year? Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) Hello All Does anybody know how accurate Places of birth are on Census returns, My John Robson who has been well documented on here is an Example as follows; on the 1861 Census he says he was born in Bishopwearmouth, however after checking the Gro Births for 1840, there was no John Robson birth Registered in Bishopwearmouth/ Sunderland, could it be his family moved there when he was a child and so he assumed he was born there?. Thanks Allan Robson

I have a number of cases where the place of birth recorded in a census suddenly changes when the person concerned is giving the information, rather than their parents. In my experience, information given by parents is generally more reliable, but still far from infallible. I also have a case where I am pretty certain the enumerator made a transcription error in copying over the entries! Ian -----Original Message----- From: eng-durham-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-durham-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Allan Robson Sent: 10 November 2009 11:21 To: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com Subject: [ENG-DURHAM] Accurate Birthplaces on Census Returns Hello All Does anybody know how accurate Places of birth are on Census returns, My John Robson who has been well documented on here is an Example as follows; on the 1861 Census he says he was born in Bishopwearmouth, however after checking the Gro Births for 1840, there was no John Robson birth Registered in Bishopwearmouth/ Sunderland, could it be his family moved there when he was a child and so he assumed he was born there?. Thanks Allan Robson ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-DURHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

In "Making Sense of the Census" by Edward Higgs, he devotes four pages to birthplace data in the censuses. He makes the comment that there was a tendency to record the place of residence, or the earliest one which could be remembered as the place of birth. Stan Mapstone