A very interesting point about ages of immigrants is made at this website: http://www.palproject.org/ne/1753elis.htm "Ages In general, most of the families were pretty accurate in their reporting of the ages of their children. In some cases the ages reported on the different passenger lists varied. The differences in age between the two lists seem to be classified under three categories. First, there were those who probably weren't sure of their exact ages and reported their ages a little differently when asked at different times. Second, since one list was made about June 1753 and the second list was made about November 1753, many of the children had birthdays and are listed as a year older or 1/2 year older on the second list from the first. Third, apparently some of the families realized that if they could underestimate the ages of their children, they could save a lot of money on the passage. This third category seems to be the most interesting. Apparently Zacharias Neubert was the first to realize that he could save a lot of money by underestimating the ages of his children. This family had four children. Following are the ages of these children as reported and how old they actuality were based on the children's christening records: Child Reported Actual Age Appolonia 13 19 J. Christoph 11 15 Johannes 7 13 A. Catharina 3 1/2 abt 10 When these are considered by the age bracketing for cost on the passage to America was 4-13 and under 4, it is obvious that the family manipulated their children's ages to save 11 1/4 Pistole. Apparently Zacharias Neubert was the only one to realize that he could do this trick to save some money when the first list was made in Rotterdam. Apparently he shared this finding with others and on arrival a few other families with children who were listed by their actual ages in Rotterdam and were younger on arrival in New England. Following is a list of the children that fit in this category followed by their actual age first (and most are as reported or close to what was reported in Rotterdam). The second number is the age they were reported on the second list, on arrival in Broad Bay. Names Johann Philip Bornheimer 16 13 Godtfried Bornheimer 13 10 Anna Maria Bornheimer 10 8 Anna Margaretha Georg 15 13 Johannes Martin 17 13 Elisabeth Hein 4 3 This is quite interesting, remembering that being 13 or under meant half price and being under 4 meant free passage."