My family is awash with people who visited that fountain of youth. Too many to list, but one set of great great grandparents took their children along with them and when they arrived in Australia they were seven years younger than when the left England, and all the children two or three years younger. The kids regained their years, but the parents stayed younger for the rest of their lives. I have another gt.gt.grandfather who miraculously dropped 10 years to become 28 years of age when he married a 20 year old girl. Another gt.gt grandmother came here alone and lost 9 years on the voyage, (she met and married a man who was 8 years younger.) I have others whose ages drew closer on day they married, as recently as my grandparents when he put his age down two years and she two up. My family abounds with miracles and mysteries. I have ancestors who came here on the wings of those wonderful white doves. (Or else they were great swimmers.) We have immaculate conceptions; lost marriages; and those who weren't born and didn't die, but who most definitely lived. We have ancestors who didn't know the names of their own parents and I have found siblings whom they surely must have known? We also have those who amazingly changed skills on the 4 month voyage, e.g., left as a publican and arrived as a blacksmith. We also had instant gold miners, but sadly, these new skills failed them. They must all be spinning in their graves as we drag out all their secrets - the secrets they thought they were taking to said graves, but I'd forego knowing it all if they'd just reveal the source of that fountain of youth! Cheers, Judie Morris, Victoria, Australia. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Ahern" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 12:50 AM Subject: variations in reported age > > Jack Crowley <[email protected]> explained: > >>There was a wonderful increase in the ages of many people in 1908 on the >>introduction of the State general old age pension (so that they could >>qualify for the pension). > > It worked the other direction as well. Irish women, for example, appear to > have a very selective memory when asked their age. Senan Molony, in his > book "The Irish on the Titanic" researched passenger records as well as > the 1901 and 1911 census and found that by the time some women had boarded > the vessel they had encountered some fountain of youth that washed away > the years. > > -dja > > ------------------------------- > 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