* 1881,1891,1901 CENSUS BIRTHS DIFFERENT

[Shaw24]

Hi, please help or offer any advice if you can.
I'm researching my family history, on one of my likes I've got back to my 3x great grandad, I've found his marriage certificate, I've found the births of all his children all of which match up perfectly down to the ages places of birth the only thing that does not make sense is, on all 3 census he's stated his place of birth as completley different 1881 he's 30 and says Ireland, 1891 he's 40 and says Liverpool and in 1901 its Bangor. Which do I go off? It is definitely the same person, same wife, same children, all ages match up perfectly even the same job just different birth place. PLEASE HELP.

[tatewise]

Welcome to the FHUG.

It is quite common for entries on Census Returns to be erroneous and inconsistent.
Unlike BMD Certificates that are completed near the date & place of the event, Census birth details rely on the person remembering and the enumerator hearing & recording the details correctly.
Maybe your 3xgreat grandad was born in Bangor, County Down, Ireland and immigrated to Liverpool as a child.
The 1851, 1861, 1871 & 1911 Census Returns may give a clearer picture. The earlier ones may be more accurate as his recollection of where he was born will be a more recent memory. You may also discover his parents and where they were born.
Until the details are clearer make notes against the Birth Event & Source Citations regarding the discrepancies.

[Shaw24]

Thank you for your reply, I have previously come across where the town would be different butnin the same county for instance but never different country, Also I'm unsure as to which Bangor it could relate to as there is also a very small area in North Wales, im going to do as you suggest but as of yet he's has been quite an elusive character to track down. Thank you for your help

[LornaCraig]

You say you have his marriage certificate. Does it include his father’s name and occupation? If so, that might help to identify him in earlier censuses when he would have been about 10 (1861) and 20 (1871). You might be able to find him in a household with his father. (Of course you need to bear in mind that sometimes people invented a father’s name!)

Are there any other clues from the marriage certificate? For example the names of the witnesses? If one of them had the same surname they might be a sibling.

[Shaw24]

Hi yes it shows his father's as John and mother as Jane, no witnesses and occupation as miner, when I try to find earlier censuses for William I can't pin point him down as there are a few different Williams with John as the father and he didn't marry until 1874 and first child 1876 so the wife isn't on any earlier census and can't find them together on any later census either.

[LornaCraig]

Where was the marriage? In any part of the UK in 1874 there should have been witnesses recorded. Scottish marriage records include the mother’s name but other regions of the UK recorded only the father.

As you have both the father’s and the mother’s name you could try searching for a baptism record. I think FamilySearch have some civil parish records and Catholic baptism records from Bangor, County Down.

[tatewise]

It might help if you could post screenshots of the Marriage Certificate and 1881 Census.
See the FHUG Knowledge Base > Forum Usage under Attachments and Taking Screenshots for how to do that.

Are you looking in Census records for a William about the right age with father John and mother Jane?
Try the Lookup Missing Census Facts plugin focussed on William and try its prepared online searches.

[Gowermick]

Was he still alive in 1921? I found that for some reason, people were a bit more specific about their place of Birth.
My own Great Grandmother’s birthplace varied over earlier censuses, between Ireland and Co Cork, Ireland. It wasn’t until 1921 that she specified Skibbereen, Co Cork, Ireland.
If he was illiterate, and the enumerator helped him fill in the census, he may have simply asked “where he was from”, rathere than “ where was he born”. The former question being a bit ambiguous!