confused - need help

[Kat the Cobbler]

While researching my family tree I've noticed a strange discrepancy on the census returns. One of my ancestors had their grandson living with them but I can't find out who his parents were or how come he was living there. does anyone know how I can find this out.

[craftyslh]

It was only a snapshot on one night, perhaps the parents were away somewhere.

[Woozle]

When we were working on ours, we noticed several things that seem strange to us now, but which were perfectly normal then! We have dozens of children living with other family members, or even neighbours!

If there was say one boy & 4 girls in a family, it was not uncommon for the boy to be boarded out at other relatives - this happened in my family, in fact they swapped the children round to "fit" into the bedrooms they had!
It was common for a child to live with grandparents/another relative for work

How old is the boy in question? Do you have any further details about where the parents are/might have been at that date (ie were they definitely alive? were they living in the same area?)

[Kat the Cobbler]

I don't know who his parents are. he was born in 1875 and in 1881 he was living with his grandparents. But then he disappears in 1891. it's all confusing.

[fluffnco]

your best bet is to work out roughly when his birth date was from the census you found him on and find his birth entry at 1871 site then apply for his birth certificate. parents names will then be available :)

del
x

[Kat the Cobbler]

He was born March 1875. I'd already found that so he won't be on 1871. However, I can't find him on anything later than 1881.

[Sandie V]

There are always descrepancies, I have lots. For example my DH great great grandparents had 7 children, but after a certain date I can't find 2 of them anywhere, yet I can't find death records for them either so I don't know what happened to them. And in my family in 1901 my great great grandmother disappears completely but I found her death registered in 1931, so she was still here, but where all these people were on the day the census was taken god only knows??

[Kat the Cobbler]

I found two of the girls in part of one family in kent as servants. Not quite sure how I managed to find them. I'm definately finding my subscription to Ancestry.co.uk worth the money though.

[jqp]

Try going back to the 1861 census to find daughter or son (child's parent) living with their parents...if not 1851...then try searching for them on the census (1871) to see if they are living elsewhere...if not there, try looking for them in death records.

All a process of elimination really...and you learn a lot about so much else along the way!

On both sides of the family we have children who only seemed to ever live with grandparents or uncles..(2 or 3 censuses is pretty secure theory really) But it also helped me find another branch of the family! So that made it 9 out of 10 siblings accounted for....

[katiepops]

Try searching on familysearch.org - if you know the time of birth and roughly where, you might be able to find either the birth or christening records, which will list the names of the parents.

Kate

[GardenAngel]

I had an ancestor who "disappeared" in one census, but someone else found him for me - his surname had been wrongly transcribed. His name was "Tyrer" but the handwriting had been mis-read and transcribed as "Cyra" - can you believe it! The people who transcribe these records do a great job and the handwriting is sometimes really difficult to read, and the searches only find what has been transcribed, not what's on the original image. Are you searching on Ancestry? You could try searching for just his first name or surname, and then do an "exact" search on birthdate, birthplace etc. It's a long job but sometimes you can get through a brick wall that way.

Another alternative is searching for any other family members you know of, and when you view the image you might find your lost relative with them. Only last night I was searching for someone called Henry. Couldn't find him, so went through the process of searching for each of his children, and his wife, in turn. I eventually found one of his sons - and living with him was the Henry I was looking for (recorded as Hy.), his wife Elizabeth (recorded as E.), and his daughter Agnes (misspelt as Agness). :lol: So don't give up!!!

If you are not on Ancestry and want me to have a go at searching for you, PM me the details and I'll have a look.

Kerry x