Hi Doreen and John,
Thanks so very much for your reply. Knowing that "rounding" was going on
for the 1841 Welsh census ages is indeed significant! This means that
the "twins" (age 10) David and Lewis I found on that Dolgelley entry
could indeed be "my" David (b. 1827) and my Lewis (b. 1831)! I am more
convinced this is in fact the family I am searching for. It's good to
know this, and to get a sense of how much to trust (or distrust) the
Welsh census info.
I went to the North Wales BMD site:
http://www.northwalesbmd.org.uk/bmd_welcome.html
and checked for births of the two younger children (John, b. 1837 or
1838 and Robert b. 1845) of the family (since the birth records only
begin in 1837). I did find two good possible matches for them, both born
in the parish of Talyllyn, Gwynedd-Dolgellau. So I will send away for
those birth certificates and see what they say.
In the meantime, I checked the LDS FHC website (
familysearch.org) and
found there were some microfilmed church records available for
Tal-y-llyn parish, which I am also ordering.
At least it's a clue. Thanks so much for your help! If you can think of
any other sources I might try, please let me know.
Cheers,
Michelle
Doreen Jones wrote:
Hi Michelle
With respect to your question
"How careful or stringent were the Welsh census in requiring that ages and
birthplaces be correct?" The quick answer is not very.
We have some that have aged from 5 to 15 years between census years and some have even
gotten younger. The birthplace was often confused with the place they were living at the
time or had lived at one time. Some even put everyone in the same dwelling down as being
born in the same place. But, on the whole, it at least gives you somewhere to start.
The ages on the 1841 census were supposed to be rounded, but it wasn't always
consistent
20 = 20 to 24
30 = 30 to 34
35 = 35 to 39
but sometimes the actual age was recorded.
There were also groups of people who refused to give any information to the census
takers.
The 1871 and the 1891 census for Dolgellau are available online. I think I found them on
the Genuki website unfortunately it is not working today for some reason.
We haven't done a lot of research in Dolgellau, even though we do have family
connections there.
The parish records are probably your best bet to start searching. I don't know if
they have been transcribed or copies available for sale anywhere.
Doreen & John
Hamilton, Canada.
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
WLS-MERIONETHSHIRE-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
quotes in the subject and the body of the message