17/04/2025
Assume nothing!
Let’s say you are looking at an 1841 census record. We see a man at the top of the entry, aged 40, a woman aged 35, a boy aged 15, a girl aged 10 and another boy aged 8. What would we presume? Father, mother and their three children?
Now we would start looking for a marriage that took place before 1826, right?
There certainly seems to be a logic in that, but are we making an assumption? Let’s think about a few things.
First of all, the 1841 census does not give relationships. Although it looks like a family group, they could all be siblings or be related in some other way.
Would it surprise you to know that in 1865, the porportion of children born to unmarried parents in Scotland was 10%? In some parts of the country, it was as high as 18%.
What does this mean? It could be that the couple were married before 1826, but we can’t assume that. The eldest child may be from a previous relationship. There’s no harm in looking, but remember that we don’t ‘know’ that they were married before 1826 so keep an open mind to a later marriage.
Also, the ages in the 1841 census were rounded down to the nearest 5 years. A man recorded as 40 may be 44. A boy said to be aged 15 may be 19. Children 15 years and younger did not have their ages rounded down.
Of course, this could also be a second marriage. Perhaps the eldest child is from the man’s first marriage.
There are all sorts of possibilities. What’s the point? Assume nothing! Gather more evidence and don’t take a document in isolation. Eventually, you will see the full picture. If you hit a brick wall, review what you think you ‘know’ and make sure you have not made any assumptions.
