James PRITT, Harrington: birth date

[johnpritt]

I'm hoping someone can help me find the exact date of birth of my great-grandfather James PRITT. In all records that I have found, he is listed as born in Harrington (which also matches where his brothers and sisters were born).
In January 1877 on his wedding certificate he is aged 21; in the April 1881 census he is aged 24; in the April 1891 census he is aged ; in the March 1901 census he is aged 42; in December 1918 on his death certificate he is aged 62.
I've looked but can't find him in Harrington in the 1871 census. I've looked through the birth registers on 1837online for the years 1854 to 1860 and can't find him there either -- although I did find his brother George in Q3 1856 (who should be older than James).
Any suggestions would be welcome!

John Pritt
Arlon, Belgium

[johnpritt]

Hadn't really thought about twins...but presumably asking for his brother's birth certificate will only show his brother?
I guess this may have to wait until next year when I get the chance to go over to England and consult the originals.

[Geoffers]

I'm hoping someone can help me find the exact date of birth of my great-grandfather James PRITT. In all records that I have found, he is listed as born in Harrington. In January 1877 on his wedding certificate he is aged 21; I've looked but can't find him in Harrington in the 1871 census.
John Pritt. Arlon, BelgiumA couple of ideas

1) Have you tried variants of the surname? Try changing the vowel and he name ending, to look under PRET(T) and PRAT(T) - many people were illiterate then and spelling was at the whim of the clerk who recorded the name and what he could make of the accent.

2) Have you tried searching the parish registers? If he was a twin, the register often notes that at baptism. By the third quarter of the 19th century, families often had a their children baptised in a job lot sseveral years after the birth of their first child. In this case, registers sometiems note the ages of the children - or just occasionally their dates of birth.

Prettige Kerstfeest

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

[johnpritt]

I haven't yet tried all the spelling variants, but that will be next I guess. Thinking about Mythology's comments on his age, it could that he lied about his age when he got married. I had forgotten about the need for paarental consent, and was lulled into complacency since the fathers' names were on the certificate. But of course, that doesn't mean that they were present does it!
In fact, his wife was born in Q2 1959, which would mean that she would have only been 17 in January 1877, yet her age is listed as 18 on the wedding certificate.
I'm waiting for my grandfather's birth certificate to arrive, but he was the first born child of the couple, and was born Q3 1877. Hmmm, I wonder if Maria, my greatgrandmother was already pregnant at the time they got married.
Being a cheapskate :) I wanted to avoid if possible asking the GRO to do a search, particularly since I'm not sure of the year, but I guess that two searches of 1856 and 1857 wouldn't be too onerous!

And a joyeux noël to you too!

John

[Geoff Everitt]

If they WERE twins, then I think the certificates should have not only a DATE of birth, but also a TIME.

(Unfortunately, this wasn't always strictly adhered to.)