How accurate is age on death certificate?

[iolaus]

I *think* I've managed to find a death record for one of my relatives, however the age is out by 3 years - is this within the realms of possibility?

'My' Fanny Simpson is born 2nd quarter 1855
1861 she's aged 6 with her mother and stepfather
1871 she's aged 16 with her mother and step father
1881 she's aged 26 with her widowed mother
1891 she's aged 36 with her married sister
1901 she's aged 46 with her niece

In 1907 'a' Fanny Simpson is admitted to the asylum in Leicester and dies there in 1909 - aged 51 (when 'my' Fanny would be 54) - death registered by the master of the asylum

I have requested the asylum notes and am hoping they give her niece (or niece's husband) as person who admitted her as then I will know it is her. 

Any other ideas as to how I may prove or disprove this death

[Gibel]

It was only as accurate as to what the person thought the age was.

[dowdstree]

Highly likely. I have quite a few myself where the ages are a couple of years out. People back then didn't put so much emphasis on age as we do now.

Sometimes they were not exactly sure of their date of birth and when it came to registering their deaths years later families didn't have birth records as we do now to give an exact age.

Looks like you have a match.

Dorrie

[mike175]

I suspect sometimes it was just an educated guess. If the person registering the death was a close relative there is more chance of it being correct, but people seem often to have been vague about their own age in later life, if the censuses and even some marriage certificates are believed

[Pennines]

As someone has already said - it depends how old the person registering the death THOUGHT she was.
In this case -- if she was admitted to an Asylum -- someone would have told them her age (or assumed age) at the admission.

In those days people had no real reason to remember how old they were - they didn't make a fuss about 40th, 50th, 60th birthdays like we do today. They didn't get a pension at 60/65 (or whatever the powers that be have decided it is now). Hence it must have been quite difficult to remember how old they were. (I have problems myself!)

I have one registered by a son in law which is actually 9 years out - but I know it's the correct one because of the address and the 'son in law'.

[SUSANHORTON]

Agree with those above who say the age is only as accurate as the person giving it. I have one from 1946 registered by his son and was 10 years younger than he really was!

[coombs]

Yes, many people did not know exactly how old they were even if we may do, through their birth cert (if born after June 1837) or baptism cert giving DOB etc. Ages on death certs can be out.

Ie my 2xgreat gran died in Sep 1943 just 4 months short of her 80th but she was said to be 78 on the cert. She was born 31 Dec 1863. Ages can be more than a year out.

[IgorStrav]

Even in recent times, not everyone is clear about their relatives' dates of birth.

I was saying to a relative the other day - "had he still been alive it would have been your Dad's 99th birthday tomorrow", and he replied "how do you know what year he was born in, because I don't".

[coombs]

I even knew someone who was born in 1967 and in 2006 he said he would be 40 this year.

A work colleague was 29 in 2007 and 32 in 2008. Even now people may not know or lose track of their exact age.