Person recorded in two 1901 Censuses

[conahy calling]

i have a granduncle recorded at his married sister's house in Co.Waterford and also at his normal residence in Co.Kilkenny. 1911 census Ireland.

[DianaCanada]

Coincidentally I am just now searching for a relative and found her in the 1851 in two different households in Burnley, Lancs., with her widowed father and some of her siblings. (as lodgers, and in their own separate household).  Almost certainly the same family, as one of the boys was named Septimus.  One daughter is missing in the lodgers' household but she is with my ancestor, her aunt, in a different household.

[McDougalls]

Hi everyone, and thank you so much for the responses. I thought I had replied earlier but didn't click send button. 

It is good to hear there are other examples of duplications and I am quite sure this is the same person recorded twice.

Have a great day!

[McDougalls]

There is quite a bit of info about him.

Yes, I have found quite a bit of information. The earliest I can confirm is Duncan, his wife and first child in a 1851 Ontario census and their marriage record in 1848. Then it's been somewhat of a dead end. 1842 census only list heads of households, and Duncan may or may not be living with his family. I am waiting to receive death records from Vital Statistics that may list parents of Duncan and Flora, fingers crossed.

Another question about Duncan is what is his correct age. The 1851 census lists him as 35 years old and the 1861 census lists him as 36 years old. In the 1851 census, the writing is clearly "35", compared to Flora's "25" years old. These are the same person because they are listed as living in the same location (Concession and Lot). Except for the 1851 census, the trend seems to be that they were 5-6 years age difference in following census. This begs the question whether he was ten years older than Flora and then lowered his age in following censuses, or if he was 30-ish in 1851.

Such an interesting and fun hobby!

[Leon47]

I have found that stated ages in Censuses is very variable and therefore unreliable.

[MollyC]

One of mine in Canada understated his age somewhat variably from 1861 onwards, probably because he was a good deal older than his wife.  Eventually in 1901 we get his date of birth, in Dec 1819, which fits very nicely with his baptism in England in Jan 1820.  Only then was I sure I was looking at the correct person.

[Andrew Tarr]

I have found that stated ages in Censuses is very variable and therefore unreliable.

I can only add that ages on marriage certificates are not much better.  I have an example of one man who married, was widowed a couple of years later, and was younger when he remarried two years later again ... 

[DianaCanada]

I have found that stated ages in Censuses is very variable and therefore unreliable.

I can only add that ages on marriage certificates are not much better.  I have an example of one man who married, was widowed a couple of years later, and was younger when he remarried two years later again ... 

Ages at death too, often when the informant didn’t know the person well, or at all.
I also got into a muddle when on a death certificate my ancestor was described as the widow of Thomas, rather than Richard.  I am convinced now that this was simply an error. The informant was a neighbour, not a relative…not to mention that the husband had been transported to Australia decades earlier!