Were Centenarians reported in newspaper?

[Wilkes_ml]

Rather than tag on to an old thread, I thought it may be better to start a new one.

My 4x great grandmother Mary Ann Curnick nee Simpson died 9th April 1876 and her age was given as 100 (death registered by daughter). Her burial entry on 15th April 1876 at St. Mary Battersea also gives her ages as 100.

(in 1841 census age 56-60, 1851 age 70, 1861 age 78, 1871 age 95 - so most ages suggest she should have been born about 1782-1783 and maybe the 1871 age is way out - which would make her age at death wrong!)

I have found a baptism of a Mary Ann Simpson at St. John Horselydown on 21st July 1776 and date of birth given as 1st of July 1776, so nearly 4 months out and the area isn't right, as Mary Ann gave her place of birth as Battersea or Lambeth. Also parents were Joseph & Ann, and none of her children were named Joseph or Ann - so I think this isn't her baptism.

Then there are two baptisms at St. Mary Lambeth - one in 1779 and one in 1781! I'm going to build up family groups of the different families and see if I can narrow down a baptism!

I am guessing it was quiet normal to forget your exact age as you got older, but if everyone thought she was 100, would there have been a newspaper report and would a newspaper report be likely to give details of her parentage to help confirm the correct baptism?

She lived in Battersea, so does anyone have any idea which newspaper may have covered her death?

Many thanks,

[Chris Doran]

Try contacting Wandsworth Heritage and Local History, at Battersea Library. As you have an exact date, it will be a quick lookup which most local history libraries will do free, but if they won't, PM me as I have to go there sometime.

[Waitabit]

Michelle, have you seen all of the baptisms of Mary Ann & James children? Harriet is recorded as 1809. Perhaps there was another one later.
She doesn't seem to have that on any census so perhaps they all went on Mothers memory & say-so. Have you seen Harriet on 1841? it may be closer to the correct age. Odd that Mary Anns' age in 1841 + 1851 seems spot on for 1781 birth, just a little off for 1861 & way different in 1871. Good luck with your quest.

[Wilkes_ml]

Michelle, have you seen all of the baptisms of Mary Ann & James children? Harriet is recorded as 1809. Perhaps there was another one later.
She doesn't seem to have that on any census so perhaps they all went on Mothers memory & say-so. Have you seen Harriet on 1841? it may be closer to the correct age. Odd that Mary Anns' age in 1841 + 1851 seems spot on for 1781 birth, just a little off for 1861 & way different in 1871. Good luck with your quest.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I will contact Battersea Library and see if they can do a quick check.

I do have all the baptisms of all her children (thanks to A****) and have pretty much traced all of them and their resultant families through the census'.

James Curnick and Mary Ann Simpson married 31 May 1802 at St. Mary Lambeth - Mary Ann must have been pregnant with first child!

children were Mary Ann (1802), Eleanor aka Ellen (1804-1829), James John (1807-1808), Harriet (1808-1894), George (1811), Thomas (1814-1883), James John (1816-1832), Benjamin (1820-1898), Lucy (1825-1825) and Henry (1827)

Unfortunately Simpson as a surname is very common - and being in London/Surrey doesn't help as people tended to jump church/district quite alot!

[Kerrywood]

and Henry (1827)

Not pertinent to your current query, but I have some information on this Henry.

He emigrated to Australia with his wife Esther Mary Ann (SHATTELL) and children in 1855, and died in Inglewood, Victoria, 2 June 1897.

I've had contact with one of his descendants there. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll try to find the details.

[Wilkes_ml]

Thanks Kerrywood - I would be most interested!

I had followed Henry and Esther Mary Ann to 1851 census, and suspected they had emigrated as I could find no further trace of them (no deaths or burials either) but my sub to FMP has just expired! (I think FMP had some outward passenger lists)

I have pretty much traced as many descendants as possible of Mary Ann Curnick (nee Simpson) as I do tend to get a bit obsessed with tying up all loose ends!

[Wilkes_ml]

Just a thought - but every time I edit Henry's page in FTmaker, I get a warning that his mother was over 50 at the time of his birth (going by her date of birth being 1776 she would have been about 51), so is it highly unlikely that a woman could have a child after the age of 50? This would also suggest that she was born later than 1776.

[Kerrywood]

With a marriage in 1802, a birth of around 1781 seems more likely and matches the earlier censuses.

I've sent you a PM.

[Wilkes_ml]

Just a quick up-date to say that I sent an email off to the Heritage Centre at Battersea Library, and the lovely staff did check the local newspaper for me, and also the Times Online, but unfortunately there is no record of her death.

So I think I will need to go by the majority of the evidence which suggests she was not 100 years old when she died! Now just to try to work out who her parents were!