Family Historian User Group

All my individuals in the Property Box have an Age Field which I use to record the age where found such as the age given in a burial register. I have just entered a burial record which I have recently found but the age field appears to be missing for this individual although it is still there for all my previous individuals. Please would someone be able to advise me how I can add this in order to record the age.

The reasoning behind hiding the Age field for the Burial event is that to be buried the person must have died and the Age would be entered in the Death event. Although some don't like entering uncorroborated events, it is usually good practice to enter a Death event so that Living Person checks don't apply privacy rules.

There are two ways to add Age to any Fact such as Burial that has it inhibited.

1. On the All tab, right-click the Fact (like Burial) and use Add Age.
   This only works for one Fact instance at a time.
2. Use Tools > Fact Types select the Fact (like Burial), click Edit and tick the Age option.
   This applies globally to all instances of that Fact in all Projects.

If you use AS to enter a burial record it bypasses the Global (2) setting that Mike mentioned.

[Mike's comment: Yes, it is effectively using the All tab bypass effect by acting on the GEDCOM file directly.]

Thank you very much Mike and John. Very useful to know.

I’d like to comment on Miketate’s statement that burial age is usually stored on Death fact. Personally, where burial record states age, I store it against the burial not the Death. Believe it or not, they don’t always match, GRO saying one thing, burial record saying another . When they do match, I copy burial source citation and use it for death fact as well. To my way of thinking, a burial does infer person has died, but not when or where they died, so I treat them as two distinct facts.

Gowermick wrote: ↑

13 Apr 2020 10:31

... To my way of thinking, a burial does infer person has died, ...

Then beware of some American FindAGrave records!! In another place, I found that it is not unknown over there for a gravestone to be cut with the full name and dates of the deceased and the name and birth only of their spouse - leaving a blank for the death date. Presumably this is felt to (a) reserve a space and (b) save time when the second spouse dies. (Me, I worry that it's tempting fate for the second spouse to go off with someone else in the meantime!)

In such a case, some FindAGrave contributors enter both inscriptions and it looks like both have been buried there but one has an unknown death date. Not quite the case at all.

Adrian,
I said a burial infers a death, not a gravestone

Mike did not say "a monumental inscription does infer person has died" but a "burial does infer person has died"; clearly a monumental inscription does not imply a burial! (Been caught out where a grave stone says "and also", but the person seems to have a grave elsewhere and is merely commemorated on the family plot.)

Gowermick wrote: ↑

13 Apr 2020 15:45

Adrian,
I said a burial infers a death, not a gravestone

Oh nicely done, sir, nicely done. You have (correctly) out-pedanted me!