How much trust can you put in Parish records?

Question

Hi All

I am still on the hunt for the parents of James Prentice (Prentice-1811)  I have a few candidates based on his death certificate which states he was 40 in 1846 when he died.  No other information included there.  But the 1841 census had rounded his age to 30 years old.  But as most of you are aware the 1841 census rounded everyone's age to the nearest 5 who was over 15. If he was 40 when he died he would have been born in 1806 but his wife Ann was born in 1816 and I have a likely set of parents John Prentice and Margaret Stodart who had a James in 1814.  It fits for the Scottish naming convention as James twice named a son John and his second son was Thomas the same as Ann's father.  So I guess my question is can the birth dates be that far out?

Comments

If he turned 35 in 1841, but after the census was taken (making him still 34 at that time), the age would still round down to 30 years.  This allows for a birth year of 1806, as the age at death would indicate.

Answer 1

I found over a dozen James Prentice born 1806-1815 in Lanarkshire on findmypast.

Answer 2

Anything that does not record a contemporaneous event is questionable in my opinion. If a birth is recorded within a few days of the event it's most likely accurate, if it's from a census, seigniorial register, marriage, or death record it's an educated guess at best. I have found church books with the scribe scribbling the year minus the supposed age at death in the margin to come up with a birth year - and forgetting to carry the one particularly when the times cross a century marker - starting with a guessed age and then missing a decade because of faulty math.

Answer 3

Probably not enough to answer your question. I'm not familiar with Scottish marriage certificates, but wouldn't his father be on that?

Comments

No he isn't on there.  Ann's Father is mentioned on it which could mean he was dead by then which may be a hell or he may have emigrated instead.  Just so frustrating