1841 census - age-old problem

[Shona]

John and Mary marry in 1831. Mary was born in 1805. Not been able to trace a birth record for John.

Children:
1 Janet - born 1831 (Killaguer)
2 Margaret - born 1833 (Southend)
3 Jean - born 1835 (Southend)
4 Duncan - born 1938 (Southend)
5 Alexander - born 1842 (Glasgow)
6 Angus - born 1845 (Campbeltown)

NB Southend is near Campbeltown

I can trace the family through the census records, except 1841. I have a name match, but not an age match for John and Mary.

Glasgow
John, 26
Mary, 26
Duncan, 3

While I know that ages were rounded down, 10 years seems excessive. Have others come across this margin of error?

Mary is a widow in the 1851 census, which is why I assume she returned from Glasgow to her home turf, where her last child was born.

Have not been able to trace a death record for John.

[Merry]

Ten years isn't excessive, especially if they were asked the question differently - when were you born?/how old are you? might produce a ten year difference!

But where are the older children?? That's what would put me off that 1841 census you found. Also, have you looked to see if there's a possible second family in 1851?

[Shona]

1 John, Mary and Duncan were not born in Glasgow.
2 1841. Daughter, Margaret, correct age, with a family with same maiden name as mum.
3 1841 Janet and Jean, ages not exact, but OK, living together with an unrelated (as far as I can work out) family.

Have checked for other matches, but none in Glasgow, where Alexander born c1842.

Also, the family's first language was Gaelic - that might have lead to confusion.

[kiterunner]

What's their surname, please, Shona?

[Shona]

McIsaac.

[Shona]

...and all the variant spellings!

[kiterunner]

It looks likely to me. Have you got an address for where Alexander was born (i.e. from his baptism), and does John's occupation on the 1841 census match his occupation on the children's baptisms?

[Shona]

Haven't found Alexander's birth record in the OPRs. Place of birth assumed from census records. John McIsaac was a shepherd. But there were lots of land changes in the area at the time of the birth of his four eldest four children and many people moved off the land. I've never been able to find a birth or death record for John. But have a note saying he died in a fever hospital in Glasgow.

[kiterunner]

Not all Scottish parishes kept burial records, so it could be that there is no death record to find.

[kiterunner]

What information is given about John on Angus's baptism, Shona?

[Shona]

I have OPR images for the four eldest children. No luck with Alexander and Angus.

Alexander
1869 - Marriage to Marrian/Marion McMillan. Father, John McIsaac, shepherd, deceased. Mother, Mary McKinlay.

1871 - Census: 27, born Glasgow.

1923 - Death: 82. Father, John McIsaac, shepherd, deceased. Mother, Mary McKinlay, deceased.

Angus
In most census records, place of birth is Campbeltown.

1923 - Death: 88. Father, John McIsaac, shepherd, deceased. Mother, Mary McKinlay, deceased.

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch has the baptism for Angus listed as Angus Mckisaac, 16 Jul 1844, Killean and Kilchenzie, Argyll, parents John Mckisaac and Mary Mckinlay. It will come up on Scotland's People if you select Surname Variants for McIsaac, or if you key the surname as Mckisaac.

[Shona]

Brilliant - thank you so much. How did I miss that?

I've done the search on SP and there is one match [scrabbles for credit card to buy more credits].

Killean is Mary's home parish. Some records do have this as Angus's place of birth, others Campbeltown.

The evidence is pointing to the 1841 census record for John, Mary and Duncan being the correct family - in spite of the age problem.

I also estimate that John McIsaac died between 1843 (Angus conceived) and 1851 (Mary recorded as a widow). I still can't recall the source of the information that John died in a fever hospital. The written note was done a good few years ago. If true, it is more likely to be in the Glasgow area than the rural west coast.

[kiterunner]

It's possible that Angus's baptism record will state that John is deceased, which would help narrow down his date of death.

[Shona]

The OPR reads:

'Angus, lawful son to John McKisaac and Mary McKinlay was baptised 16th July.'

Other entries state the date and place of birth as well as the baptism date.

Therefore, he probably was born in Campbeltown as stated on some records, but baptised in Killean.

I've checked through the print-outs I have for other birth and baptism records for this parish and I've not seen deceased written in relation to any parent.

[kiterunner]

Oh well, it was worth looking just in case.

[Shona]

It's good to have this baptism to add to my records. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

The bonus is that there are TWO other family baptisms on the same page.