Kathi Elliott <kjell@evansville.net> wrote: The parish records listed the birth dates and christening dates of four children [of Thomas D. Davies]. My gr-gr-grandmother, Elinor (or Ellen) Davies, is listed on this record as having been born on July 16, 1835 and christened 13 Sep 1835. However, EVERY other record I have found, including the 1841 census of Blaenpenal, Cardiganshire, the 1850 Census of Jackson County, Ohio, her death certificate and written family records put her birthdate in August of 1834-- almost a year earlier. Should I go with the parish record? ================== Dear Kathi, In my view, the parish register is the most reliable of the sources you have cited. As long as you were checking the original parish register (or a microfilmed facsimile of it) the dates recorded therein are the ones to which I would give the highest credence. Because they were written down at the time of the christening, and only a few weeks after the birth, they are the least likely to be in error. Bishop's transcripts of the parish records are less reliable, because they are susceptible to transcription errors. The UK 1841 census is the next most reliable source. However, you cannot normally obtain the month of birth from a UK census except in the case of infants whose ages are expressed in months rather than years. The 1841 UK census would only indicate the age of the child (in years) on census day (6th June 1841). If the age was recorded correctly, a child born in July 1835, would be recorded as 5 years old in the 1841 census (her 6th birthday would be in July 1841, *after* the census). A child born in August 1834 would be recorded as 6 years old (her 7th birthday would be *after* the census). It is possible the census enumerator copied the age wrongly when he transferred his data into his log book. Similarly, if you were viewing a transcription of the census rather than a microfilmed facsimile, it is possible the age of the child was misread by the transcriber. Personally, I think the 1850 US census and the family records are the least reliable sources. The 1850 census is recording events which took place 15 years earlier -- ample time for memories to have failed and errors to have crept in. Family records are often written down many years, even generations, after the events to which they refer. Their accuracy must always be in doubt until the details can be independently verified in reliable sources. Kind regards, John ---------------------------- John Ball, Ystalyfera, South Wales, UK E-mail: wfha@clara.co.uk Homepage: http://home.clara.net/wfha/ Welsh Family History Archive: http://home.clara.net/wfha/wales/ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.592 / Virus Database: 375 - Release Date: 18/02/2004