RE:BIRTH AGE INFORMATION ACCURACY IN CIVIL RECORDS
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- Master
- Posts: 986
- Joined: 13 Aug 2011, 01:41
RE:BIRTH AGE INFORMATION ACCURACY IN CIVIL RECORDS
ALL 4 OF MY PATERNAL ITALIAN 2ND GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE BORN BEFORE CIVIL REGISTRATION. 4 FROM COMUNES IN AVELLINO ALL BEFORE 1809 2 FROM PALERMO BEFORE 1820 AND 2 FROM MESSINA BEFORE 1820. AS WE KNOW CIVIL RECORDS BEGAN IN MAINLAND ITALY IN 1809 AND 1820 IN SICILY. I HAVE ALL 4 MARRIAGES (ONE IN AVELLINO WAS A PRE CIVIL REGISTRATION PARISH RECORD AND COMPLETELY ILLEGIBLE SO NO WAY IT CAN BE DECIPHERED FOR AGES GIVEN). THIS MEANS I CANNOT ACCESS THEIR BIRTH RECORDS SO NO IDEA WHEN THEY WERE BORN. THE ONLY WAY I CAN APPROXIMATE THEIR YEARS OF BIRTH ARE BY THE AGES THEY GAVE IN THEIR CHILDRENS BIRTH RECORDS-MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS. OR BY THEIR DEATH RECORDS WHICH I ONLY HAVE A FEW. I BELIEVE THE MOST ACCURATE AGES GIVEN NOT HAVING THE ORIGINAL BIRTH RECORDS, WOULD BE IN THE MARRIAGE RECORDS. AGES GIVEN AT DEATH WOULD BE THE LEAST ACCURATE. I BELIEVE BIRTH RECORDS NEEDED TO BE PRESENTED AT THE MARRIAGE SO AGES GIVEN AT THAT TIME WOULD BE MOST ACCURATE. WERE BIRTH RECORDS OF THE PARENTS NEEDED TO PRESENT THE BIRTH OF A CHILD? WERE BIRTH RECORDS OF THE DECEASED NEEDED TO REPORT A DEATH? I SEE DIFFERENT AGES GIVEN IN ALL THESE RECORDS FOR THE SAME PERSON. ONE AGE GIVEN AT THE MARRIAGE WHICH DOESNT MATCH THE AGE GIVEN AT THE BIRTH OF A CHILD AND ANOTHER GIVEN AT THE TIME OF DEATH. THIS IS WHAT MAKES PINPOINTING AN APPROXIMATE YEAR OF BIRTH SO DIFFICULT WITH NO ACCESS TO THE ACTUAL BIRTH RECORDS. FOR EXAMPLE: SOMEONE MARRIED IN 1820 MIGHT GIVE THEIR AGE AS 20,MAKING IT APPEAR THEY WERE BORN ABOUT 1800. THEN THE AGE THEY MIGHT GIVE AT THE BIRTH OF A CHILD BORN IN 1830 WOULD BE 25,MAKING THE BIRTH YEAR APPEAR ABOUT 1805. AND SAY THEY DIED IN 1870,THE AGE GIVEN MIGHT BE 60,MAKING IT APPEAR THEY WERE BORN ABOUT 1810. OUTSIDE OF HAVING THE ORIGINAL BIRTH RECORD,ITS VERY DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT APPROXIMATE YEARS OF BIRTH. CAN ANYONE SHED FURTHER LIGHT ON THIS COMMON PROBLEM?
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- Master
- Posts: 3451
- Joined: 11 Jun 2020, 18:31
Re: RE:BIRTH AGE INFORMATION ACCURACY IN CIVIL RECORDS
For one thing, in most record systems there's a tendency of rounding to ages ending in 0 and 5, called "age-heaping".
Overall, I'd give more weight to self-reported ages than to ages reported by others, especially ages reported by non-relatives.
Have you searched for birth records among marital allegati?
Overall, I'd give more weight to self-reported ages than to ages reported by others, especially ages reported by non-relatives.
Have you searched for birth records among marital allegati?
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- Master
- Posts: 986
- Joined: 13 Aug 2011, 01:41
Re: RE:BIRTH AGE INFORMATION ACCURACY IN CIVIL RECORDS
as i mentioned,all 4 birth records of my 2nd great grandparent occurred before civil registration. the self reported ages of the couple would be in the marriage records,probably the most reliable. the next would be ages given by the parents at the births of children. the death records would be the least reliable,as the ages would be reported by others. out of the 4 marriages of ny 2nd great grandparents,1 was in avellino in 1827,1 was in palermo in 1839,and 1 in messina in 1845. the ages given by the subjects are probably the closest i'll get to the actual births of the subjects. i'm using the ages given in these 3 marriages to approximate the years of birth.the most problematic is 1 marriage,a parish record which is totally undecipheral and occurred in 1803 in avellino,before civil registration. marital allegati wouldn;t apply to pre civil registration parish records.