James Hendry b: 1852 Latheron, Caithness

[Forfarian]

He's in the 1861 census with parents and siblings, age given as 10, which suggests he was born in 1850/1851 rather than in 1852.

Thank you for your reply. I am sorry, I should have said that I am looking for an old parish register entry. The 1853 would have been on the Scotland census record. Could well be 1850/51
Appreciate you help,
Isabel

The date of 1853 would not have been on the original of any Scottish census. The census never gives a year, let alone a date, of birth so if you have found a census transcription claiming to give a year of birth you need to check the original to see what it says, not what some transcriber thought it might have said.

I always go for the earliest available census for any individual because (a) the parents know best when a child was born and (b) if the child is one of several you can easily see if all the ages make sense.

In this case there is an 8-year-old younger sibling so James cannot have been born in 1853.

[Isabel Griggs]

He's in the 1861 census with parents and siblings, age given as 10, which suggests he was born in 1850/1851 rather than in 1852.

I always go for the earliest available census for any individual because (a) the parents know best when a child was born and (b) if the child is one of several you can easily see if all the ages make sense.

In this case there is an 8-year-old younger sibling so James cannot have been born in 1853.

Thank you for your reply. I will take on board your advice. Much appreciated.

1861-Alexander Hendry aged 37yrs was living at Forse, Latheron, Caithness, Scotland with his wife Catherine Hendry nee Calder and their children: James 10yse (scholar), Margaret 8yrs (scholar), Johan 6yrs (scholar), William 2 yrs and Donald 1yr.

Johan aged 6 yrs is my G Grandmother. In 1939 she is in South Shields as Johanna Campbell (yes, same person. Robert Manson 1st husband died) her date of birth is stated as 17 Mar 1851.
This is all very confusing. Her parents married on the 2nd of Jan 1852.
Would appreciate your thoughts.
Isabel

[Forfarian]

As she was listed as aged 6 in the 1861 census, with older siblings aged 10 and 8 and younger siblings aged 4, 2 and 1, she has to have been born in 1854 or 1855.

In fact, as the 1861 census was carried out on 7 April 1861, she should have been born between 8 April 1854 and 7 April 1855. Therefore she is more likely to have been born in 1854 than in 1855, and indeed the absence of a formal birth certificate confirms that she must indeed have been born before 31 December 1854.

The younger siblings are
Catherine 4 suggests born 1856/1857 - births index says 1856
William 2 suggests born 1858/1859 - births index says 1857
Donald 1 suggests born 1859/1860 - births index says 1859

Going on to 1871 when the family were in Wick
James 19 -> 1851/1852
Margaret 18 -> 1852/1853
Johan 16 -> 1854/1855
Catherine 15 -> 1855/1856 index says 1856
William 14 -> 1856/1857 index says 1857
Donald 12 -> 1858/1859 index says 1859
Mary 10 -> 1860/1861 index says 1861
Adam 8 -> 1862/1863 index says 1863
Jane 3 -> 1867/1868 index says 1868
Ann 0 -> 1870/1871 index says 1870

So you can see that all the ages listed in 1871 are consistent with the dates of birth registrations after 1855. If the parents got all the younger ones' ages right, why would they get the older ones wrong?

If Alexander H and Catherine Calder married on 2 January 1852, then James was born either before their marriage or indecorously soon afterwards. If they were members of the Church of Scotland this would have resulted in a record in the Latheron Kirk Session minutes of the parents being scolded for antenuptial fornication. However the relevant volume is not (yet?) available at Scotland's People.