Births before Marriages

[chris1824]

Hello forum members

I have an ancestor who was recorded on the 1881 census as married and living with his wife. Birth certificates show that the same couple had several children during the 1880s and early 1890s.

However they also have a marriage certificate for 1884. This contradicts the 1881 census, and is also dated after the births of their first two children. I am reasonably sure that the couple on the marriage certificate on the same as the couple recorded as the parents of these children, because the father's surname is very rare.

Obviously it is not unheard of for census returns to be incorrect, or for people to marry after the birth of their children. However do people have any hints on whether the census return or marriage certificate is likely to be a better guide to the date of marriage.

Thanks

Chris

[Guy Etchells]

Assuming that it is the same couple there is only one answer, the marriage ceritificate gives proof of the marriage, absoulute proof if an original or facsimile of the original (obtained from Church registers or local registrars office, not from GRO).

The marriage cert (not GRO copy) is a primary source document, the census is at first secondary source which having been transcribed by the enumerator from schedules to the folios becomes a tertiary source (third hand).

A census can only be relied on to provide proof as to who was at a certain house on census night and even that is sometimes incorrect.
Cheers
Guy

[Rod Neep]

Obviously it is not unheard of for census returns to be incorrect, or for people to marry after the birth of their children. However do people have any hints on whether the census return or marriage certificate is likely to be a better guide to the date of marriage.

Thanks

Chris
A marriage certificate is a legal document and will be reliable in your case. A census return (although supposed to be legally correct) is really only as good as the information that the householder gave to the census enumerator when he (the householder) filled in the census schedule form. And people can lie so very easily to suit their whims.

Rod