Hi Frank You're right. In the old days folk just didn't celebrate birthdays like we do today. There were no benefits, financial or otherwise of reaching 16, 18, 21 or retirement age like we do today so there was no real need to know your exact age. No one had to sign up for anything giving their age. Folk lied about their age when getting married either adding or taking away a few years - men and women - that is if they knew their real age to start with. I don't know how many folk would ever have actually held a baptism paper which they could refer to. Not many I wouldn't have thought. I did a one-name-study when I first started genealogy and a very, very small handful kept to a year or so out either way. I've got one couple where the wife aged less than 10 years every census year! I learnt very quickly not to judge on ages if everything else fitted. Cheers Andy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank Green" <letellierfg@hotmail.com> To: "genealogy" <london-l@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 6:24 PM Subject: [LON] CENSUS > Hello Listers, > While searching through sequential census I've noticed, among other > things, some significant discrepancies in persons ages between the ten > year census periods. I suppose for some people there was less importance > attached to remembering precise dates in those earlier years, and may > they have only thought about it when the census man called. I understand > it was once thought that some family Heads intentionally advanced their > age so as to qualify earlier for the newly introduced pension. It sounds > like a cute plan but I would doubt that the authorities , even in the mid > 19th century, would let that pass unquestioned. One of my families in fact > showed that either the census taker, or the family Heads , had added ten > more years to their previously established age. There are probably a > good many theories (and stories) about census errors, discrepancies, and > I would be most interested to read comments from Listers on this subject. > I hope I’m not re-introducing an already much discussed subject. > Thank you. > Frank, MANITOBA > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > This mailing list works in parallel with the London surname interest list > on the web at http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/london.html . Check for > matching interests and add your own ! > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: LONDON-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LONDON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message