How accurate are the Census's

[Paul Timson]

I can only fine one entry for my GGGrandfather the 1841 census aged 40, his wife and children appear in subsequent census's, I cannot find any death record for him, were all death's recorded after this date?, I am at a bit of a loss as to where to look to find out what happened to him. Any advice as to where to go from here greatly appreciated.

[Lesley Robertson]

Census entries are only as good as the info supplied. People can age by fewer or more years than expected in the 10 years there should be... birth parishes can change with every census, etc, etc. people were often giving the info from memory. They weren't as obsessed with numbers as we are...
The census was supposed to record the people sleeping at that address on census night. If someone was away that night, they'll be recorded where they slept (and sometimes the family got carried away and listed them at home as well).
The 1840 census is especially dodgy because ages of adults were suppose to be rounded to units of 5 years. Some enumerators didn't do it, some rounder up, some rounder down.....
Death registration in Scotland began in 1855, in England and Wales it was 1837. You don't give a location...

[Paul Timson]

Thanks Lesley, my apologies this site is all about gathering information and I did not give any, My branch of the Timson's have always lived and died in Leicester/Leicestershire, his wife was quiet easy to find as her married name was Letitia Timson unfortunately his first name was John which is not a great help when looking through records.

[janbooth]

Could this be your John & Letitia in the 1851 census of Leicester St Margaret (HO107/2089, folio 214, page 8):

24 Queen Street

John TIMSON Head Mar 50 Warp Hand Leicestershire Aylestone
Letitia do Wife Mar 47 Leicester
Marjorie do Daur Un 19 Fancy Hand (Hosiery) do
Joseph do Son 14 Cotton Winder do
George do Son 12 Trimmers Assistant do
+ 1 Lodger

She is the only Letitia TIMSON I can find, so I assume this is the correct couple and the details seem to fit with the 1841 census record for Letitia.

Have you found Letitia in the 1861 census record? I have found her in the 1871 census where she states she is still married and living at Bailey's Yard but so far I have not found her in the 1861 census.

There are a couple of death registrations for a John TIMSON at Leicester reg district, one in the December qtr 1852 and the other in the March qtr 1858 which could be relevant to you.

Janet

[Megan Roberts]

Deaths, particularly in the period before ages appear in the index (1865 I think), where you have a common name can be difficult to track down.

Things to bear in mind / think about:

Deaths are registered where they occurred, not where the person lived.

If you know when the youngest child was born, then you have a starting point to look for a death.

What do the later censuses say about her marital status? Do they describe her as a widow?

Have you looked for a burial record, because even if he died elsewhere he may have been brought home to be buried?

Sometime unfortunately there are cases where you can never find an answer, and it could be one those tragic and sad records that you might come across of an unknown person being found dead, because in those days they were unlikely to have had identification on them.

[Kiltpin]

In the early days of computers (when we all thought that they would be able to do everything), computer engineers could be heard muttering Geyego. When questioned, it transpired that it meant GI GO. Which was an acronym for Garbage In = Garbage Out.

Seems it creeps in everywhere ...

Regards

Kiltpin