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DATING SYSTEM |
All complete dates shown can be substantiated by the relevant documents. Marriage dates are taken from Parish records or when registered. Before the commencement of civil registration in 1837 births and deaths are derived from Parish Registers, which normally show only the date of baptism or the date of burial. Both birth and death obviously preceded these events. However, some registers give the actual date of birth as well and in such cases this is shown. Normally christenings were held quite soon after birth, but occasionally a considerable interval intervenes. Some people were baptised as adults and gaps of up to to ten years are known. If this is the case, the date of baptism would also be shown.
Ages at death may also be given in Parish Registers. This enables an estimate of the likely year of birth, or there may be other evidence to suggest a possible year of birth, for example the Census. The various Census held after 1851 usually gives place of birth as well. If the date of a marriage is not known it is assumed to have taken place approximately one year before the birth of the first known child. All estimated dates are prefixed by "circa". Occasionally, where the actual date of death is not known but there is evidence that a person was still alive at a certain time, deaths are shown as being subsequent to that date, e.g. "died after 1881". In the lists of children only the year of birth/baptism and death/burial are shown (where known).