* Census Records and differing Birth year and Place

[David Potter]

Hi Forum

Looking for inspiration on should I enter multiple birth facts when using AS and the Census Record concerned gives a different birth year or place to other census records?
I have used AS extensively to create Census based birth facts but I'm seeing more and more birth facts where the birth date or place differs to another census for the same person.

Is it best practice to just make a summary note of the differences somewhere or is there a clear advantage in creating multiple birth facts for each census difference. I appreciate this is personal taste but would very much like to hear what you do as a preference.

Thank you

David

[LornaCraig]

The method adopted by most users of FH is to have only one birth (and death) fact per individual. Nobody can be born or die more than once. (Think how odd a report would look, if it read "He was born on... in ... He was born on ... in ..." etc). You should still cite all the sources you have found for the birth, even if they conflict, and use your judgement to decide which are most reliable. You may have to settle for a date range rather than a specific date/year, but that's OK. You can use the note field of the birth event to explain why you have come to your conclusion. You can also set the assessment level for the more suspect sources to 'questionable' or 'unreliable'.

When using AS to enter censuses I let AS create a citation to the census for the birth event but it is often necessary to adjust the birth date to a date range manually in FH afterwards. If I later find reliable evidence for an exact date and place, for example from a birth certificate, I adjust the birth event accordingly but often still leave citations to conflicting sources, with an explanatory note, as it can be interesting to see what the person themselves said at different times in their life about their own birth date/place.

[David Potter]

Hi Lorna

Many thanks for the quick reply - I can see a date range would work (I had not considered that option), so the date range would span from earliest date to oldest date from discovered Census records but what about multiple places? How would you handle that scenario? I'm guessing the Birth Fact Note field - but will wait for your answer.

Many thanks...

[LornaCraig]

Yes, I record any conflicting evidence about the place in the note field. Often the birthplaces recorded in the censuses are broadly consistent, varying only between a town and a small neighbouring village, or a city and a parish within that city. In these cases it is a fair bet that the smaller/more specific place is right, but I usually record the larger/more general place for the fact and in the note I add that a particular census "more specifically gives the place as ...." Again it's a question of personal judgement but as long as you record all your sources and the reason for your decision it will be easy for you (or another researcher) to look back and re-evaluate if necessary.

[tatewise]

There was a recent lengthy discussion on this very topic in Primary birth fact (15320).
In particular, see my posting starting "The recommended FH approach ..."

It is important to recognise how contemporary the details in the source document are with respect to the associated event.
e.g.

• The details in a Birth Certificate are contemporary with the Birth Event so are very reliable.
• The details in a Census regarding Age and Birth Place are less and less contemporary to the Birth Event the older the person becomes, and some people exaggerate their Age and must rely on others for their Birth Place. So take those Census details with a pinch of salt. Whereas, the current Place/Address in a Census is very contemporary with its date.
• The details in a Death Certificate regarding Age or Birth Date & Place are also not contemporary with the Birth Event, whereas the details about the death itself are contemporary with the Death Event.

This is where your judgement as a genealogist comes into play. How reliable is the information?
That is what the Citation Assessment is for; to record the reliability, not of the Source document as a whole, but the relevance of the piece information in that document to Fact with the Citation. Thus one Source document may have different Assessment values for each associated Fact Citation.

[David Potter]

Thanks Lorna and Mike for sharing once again your wisdom and best practice methods.

Very much appreciated.

[tatewise]

Does any of this advice and that in Primary birth fact (15320) need adding to the [kb]|[/kb] perhaps in research:getting_started|> Getting Started with Genealogy Research or in glossary:sources#sources_and_citations_-_how_to_use_them|> Sources and Citations - how to use them?

[David Potter]

Hi Mike

I would say generally yes, the more info/examples present in the knowledge base the better.

[tatewise]

I've added some advice to research:getting_started|> Getting Started with Genealogy Research.
Feedback on what it now says and any ways to improve it would be welcomed.

[David Potter]

Thank you Mike - That looks fine.