General Chat

Hi Everyone!! I'm fairly new to this Family Tree lark and have hit a bit of a puzzler. I wondered if anyone can tell me whether this is a common occurrence or not. My name is Steve BUET - not a very common surname which you would think would make research easier!! I know my dad's and my granddad's name but here's where it gets interesting. Thomas Buet (Born 1896) is my grandfather. He appears as a five year old on the 1901 census and living in a household with his parents, Richard Edward Buet (aged 27) and Alice Buet (Nee Maguire) (aged 25). Now, R E Buet is the problem. I find his marriage in 1894 but looking up his birth in 1874 - no trace! But!! I found an Edward Richard Buet born in the right place in 1872. Is it common for people to not know how old they were back at the turn of the century - and would they inexplicably swap the order of their names around to confuse poor blokes like me a hundred years or so later? :o) Be interested to hear your opinions. Steve from Brum

Steve - they lied through their teeth. My gt gt granda was 15 when he married for the first time - to a woman of 26 and was on the 1881 census as 40 yrs old and he was 55!

Hello Steve, The answer is "yes"! I've found constant examples of folks altering their names, confusing dates etc. Part of the fun and challenge of family history is tracking down the correct version. Good hunting! Philip

Hi Steve, Welcome to the wonderful misleading world of Genealogy! You have only just hit the tip of the iceburg. You wait and see what is in store for you as you travel through time and families. But we are all still smiling. Jacky :-)

Steve, yes quite common on both counts. Half the time they didn't actually know their ages, it wasn't important to them. Mine vary by quite a few years from census to census so it is probably the same person. ann glos

Very common I'm afraid. Always look a year or two either side if you can't find someone. I had this problemw ith my Grandmother (who was a year younger than my Dad thought) and my gt Grandfather, who's appearances on 3 consecutive censuses appeared to have him born in 1814 but when I found him on the 1841 it showed him 2 years older.. and there he was. If it was easy, it wouldn't be so much fun would it ? Paul

Steve I agree with the others, sometimes you think they deliberatly set out to confuse us. I wish I could go back for 5 minutes just to tell them off but as most of them couldn't read or write it would be no use. Even my mom was told her birthday was August 2nd and when she sent off for her birth cert discovered it was the 3rd so grandma got it wrong and she could read and write. Never take the info they give as gospel. Good hunting Pat

Couldn't find Granny Grace Evelyn as we always knew her, turned up on the 1901 census as Evelyn Grace! My uncle David was always known as John, my uncle Victor was always known as Rex and my Aunty Constance was called queenie all her life! I currently have 3 Sarah Parfitts, all living in the same village, all giving birth out of wedlock, all in the same time frame, only one is my gtgtgt aunty, but trying to work out which of the 7 kids were hers is turning into a crusade as the birth certs just state mother Sarah Parfitt single woman! and you think you have problems, you will be grey and on medication before you finish this! Bev

Not only did some of mine swop round their first and second names, but they called themselves something entirely different. Also my great-grandfather couldn't make up his mind between censuses whether he was born in Ireland or Liverpool ...! Fun isn't it?? Mandy

Yes, thats another good one Bev. My mum had a little sister, died when she was a few weeks old, the gravestone said "baby Nance", but she was registsred as Doreen Nancy. I've also got an "Aunt Bet", my dad's sister, and I always assumed her name was Elizabeth, till I started this hobby and found out her name was Gladys !

Steve I agree with the others, sometimes you think they deliberatly set out to confuse us. I wish I could go back for 5 minutes just to tell them off but as most of them couldn't read or write it would be no use. Even my mom was told her birthday was August 2nd and when she sent off for her birth cert discovered it was the 3rd so grandma got it wrong and she could read and write. Never take the info they give as gospel. Good hunting Pat

Hi All my grandmothers name was Annie but always called Nance her mother was a Mary and always called Polly and even my mother whos name was Mabel was called Audrey, which when she died and a lot relatives got such a surprise to find out her real name ther are also a lot more name changing throughout the familes as for ages well I am trying to sort out a puzzel that I have been trying to sort out for over 2 years have a marriage certificate of a relation and it quite clearly says he is 24 years old but I think he was 40 years old a difference of 16years don't think I will ever sort that one out. Best wishes Margaret

Regarding misinformation on the census and other records. Ages on the early census were often rounded up or down by the whim of the recorder, by as much as five years sometimes.The recorder may only be semi literate himself and most of our ancestors certainly were. They did not have the advantages of education that we have today. Then as you say people lied about their ages. But it wasn't so much lying as we see it today,age was not so important to them. It is only in relatively recent times that we have this fixation for ages. My gr-gr-grt grandparents started off five years apart at the time of their marriage, by the 1881 census they are the same age. Age just not an issue. Confusing for us though. I bet they laugh at our dilemas. Rose

Fantastic!! Thank you all for your replies, encouragement and examples of the problems you've encountered. I don't feel quite so bad now. I wonder why they all bothered giving their offspring names if they changed them on a whim. To my recollection I have an Uncle Steve who was christened Stuart and my dad (Stanley Thomas) was known to many as Jim! It's life Jim, but not as we know it!!! Steve

I had a gt gt Aunt called Polly. My Dad told me her real name was Mary Anne. But her birth cert says Emma Mary and she married as Mary Emma, to Edward, who was always called Edwin to distinguish him from his Dad. My own father was bap Edward Graham Seymour, known as Ted by his mates and my mum, his mum called him Seymour, and somewhere along the line my Dad decided Ted sounded common and called himself Graham for the last 20 years of his life. Hey, and thats only the ones I KNOW about!