Reliability of dates?
jil...@my-deja.com
sister did quite a bit of research (don't know what year) and she came
up with what she thought was our family in Ireland. There are quite a
few discrepancies though and because of the commonality of the name, I
wonder how reliable some records are.
FACTS :
My father (now 73) says his father was born in Delvin.
We know from the headstone that my GGfather Patrick Murray married a
woman named Bridget.
We know from the headstone that my Gfather's name was Thomas (no middle
listed).
My fathers sister found marriage records on a Patrick Murray and
Bridget Murtagh in Delvin, Ireland and birth records of their children.
The discrepancies are :
Marriage records for Bridget and Patrick list them as 10 yrs of age
apart.
Headstones reflect 16 yrs of age apart.
*Was it possible they lied about their age to marry? Headstone dates
are listed from relatives memory, are they not (at least before
standard birth certificate issues). Couldn't a mistake have been made?
Birth records for children include a Thomas with middle name Patrick.
Because of military records we know for a FACT that my Gfathers middle
name was Matthew (physical lists missing finger).
*Could they have listed son Thomas with father Patricks name below it
on accident? These records are from 1890 and have been transcribed at
least once. No other birth record from any sisters and brothers have
middle names listed.
Birth date for Thomas Patrick was Nov 29, 1890 (per birth record)
Baptism date was Dec 3, 1890
Birth date for Thomas Matthew was Dec 1, 1890 (per SSDI)
*Could SSDI have been filed late?
Birth records indicate siblings that my father has no memory of but he
said this doesn't surprise him as his father didn't keep in good
contact with his family.
Birth records do not indicate siblings that my father does remember.
Ship's passenger lists do not indicate these siblings either.
*Is it possible the ship's manifest did not record infants under a
certain age? Could the younger children have come on another boat with
some other relative?
Main question here is, how many discrepancies does it take to make you
question your lineage? Should all of these "close" dates be acceptable
considering the date when they were recorded, the way they were
recorded, and lack of standard birth / marriage / death records?
Opinions?
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