Does he exist? 1851 census George Sherman born Clerkenwell, 10 years old?

Question

Maybe someone could shed more light on the puzzle of whether my great-grandfather George Sherman's birthdate was 1831 or 1841 by answering this question.

Answer 1

www.familysearch.org--1881 British Census

George SHERMAN

Birth Year <1841>  

    Birthplace --St Lukes, Middlesex, England  

    Age-- 40  

    Occupation-- Printers Assistant  

    Marital Status M <Married>  

    Head of Household-- George SHERMAN

    Relation --Head  

  Dwelling 15 Kings Road

Census Place London, Middlesex, England



www.ancestry.co.uk

1851 England Census

about George Sherman

Name: George Sherman

Age: 20  

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1831

Relation: Head  

Spouse's Name: Sarah

Gender: Male

Where born: St Lukes, Middlesex, England

Civil Parish: St Giles Cripplegate  

County/Island: Middlesex  

Country: England  

Occupation: Printer's pressman (shown on original view)

Registration district: East London  

Sub-registration district: Cripplegate  

ED, institution, or vessel: 1j  

Household schedule number: 151

Household Members--George Sherman 20  

Sarah Sherman --19  

Sarah Sherman --2 Mo  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_King...

The United Kingdom Census of 1851 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of March 30, 1851, and was the second of the UK censuses to include details of household members. However, this census added considerably to the fields recorded in the earlier 1841 census, providing additional details of ages, relationships and origins, making the 1851 census a rich source of information for both demographers and genealogists. The 1851 census for England and Wales was opened to public inspection in 1912 (the 100-year retainer rule was not in effect at the time), and has since been available from The National Archives as part of class HO107.

     The 1851 census was the first to record the full details of birth location for individuals. Where 1841 had only recorded if an individual was born in county, the 1851 census states the county and parish or town of birth as well.

The 1851 census was the first to record each person's marital status and relationship to the head of the household, as well as details of disability being recorded — with a field for recording the information that an individual was "blind, deaf or imbecile". Each individual's EXACT age was also recorded (to the nearest year) rather than rounding adult ages down to the nearest five years.

    In 1851, much greater detail was asked about people's occupations than in previous censuses. This enabled government analysis of occupations into "classes" and "sub-classes". Masters in trade and manufacture were asked to state the word "master" after the description of their occupation and to state the number of men employed on the day of the census.

    The Government also conducted a census of attendance at religious services on 30 March 1851, as part of the project.

     The 1851 census is seen as one of the key sources for British genealogical research of the nineteenth century. The information about the relationship of individuals to the head of household enables relationships between people to be established accurately. Furthermore, the inclusion of exact ages and details of each person's place of birth, provides the researcher with a pointer to the location of birth or baptism records. In many cases, this allows the researcher to pin-down the parish of birth with relative ease: in other cases, the situation is not so simple.

The census records relate to the occupants of each household on the date given below:

United Kingdom Census 1851 - 30 March Sunday

http://www.uk-census.org.uk--the same info from above is listed here for 1851 (45 George Shermans listed), but he is not shown in the 32 for the 1841 census at all.

     The first genealogically useful census was not taken until 1841, when names were recorded. For family historians, only those that date from 1841 are of real value due to the amount of information taken down. The administration of the early census returns 1801-1831 was the responsibility of the Overseers of the Poor and the clergy.

     The 1851 Census for England was taken on the night of 30 March 1851. The following information was requested:

Name of street, place, road, etc.

House number or name

Name of each person that had spent the night in that household

Relationship of person enumerated to the head of the family

Person's marital status

Age at last birthday (s*x is indicated by which column the age is recorded in)

Person's rank, profession, or occupation

Person's place of birth (if outside of England or Wales, only the country may be given)

Whether blind, deaf, or idiot

      All responses were to reflect the individual's status as of 30 March 1851 for all individuals who had spent the night in the house. The clerks who compiled and reviewed the census data made a variety of marks on the returns. Unfortunately, many of these tally marks were written over personal information and some fields, such as ages, can be difficult to read as a result. More useful marks include a single slash between households within a building and a double slash separating households in separate buildings.

(These listings are all I could find with him listed in St.Luke's parish, where Clerkenwell is located. Both show him as a printer. Hope this helps solve the problem.)

Answer 2

Hello Jim I did a search of the 1851 census for you, I did find a George Sherman who was born in 1840. What makes you think he was born in Clerkenwell, have you got a birth certificate for him.  It could be that he wasn't actually born there at all. I have a few instances where my ancestors have made it known that they were born in a "posh" part of Nottingham, when actually they were born in the poorest part. The enumerator would have wrote what he was actually told by our ancestors. Do you think that might be the case with George and his family.

Sorry  Jim I was just referring to my family all being born into the slum area of Nottingham.

Answer 3

So by simple maths it has to be 1841

Answer 4

The George Sherman that you have been looking at in the 1851 census is an apprentice printer, born London. However, on later census's it states that he was born St Lukes, Middlesex.

The St Lukes area of London included Hackney, Shoreditch,and Islington. In order to find his correct year of birth you will have to look at the Birth records for the year. There are many George Shermans' born around the date of 1841, but I cannot find one of that exact year.

The census only has a rough guide to the year the people were born. A lot of people I have researched and found on census's have not given their correct age for one reason or another; and when I have found their real birth date, it is a couple of years difference