William Campbell: Vital Statistics and DatesThe dates derived from various Canadian records for William Campbell (1819-1897) strongly support a date of birth early in 1819. William Campbell, son of Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason, was baptized on 26 March 1819, suggesting he was born a few days or weeks earlier in 1819. Canadian Census 1851/1852 – William’s stated age is 33 – age at census resolves to birth in 1819 Canadian Census 1861 – William’s stated age is 42 – age at census resolves to birth in 1819 Canadian Census 1871 – William’s stated age is 52 Canadian Census 1881 – William’s stated age is 62 Canadian Census 1891 – William’s stated age is 72 Death Registration 1897 – William’s reported age is 78 Tombstone Inscription 1897 – William’s reported age is 78 These data strongly suggest a date of birth for William Campbell in January, February or early March of 1819. The reporting is consistent over six decades and presents a fairly strong case for William Campbell being born in 1819 in the Aberdeen area of Scotland. This closely matches with the details of the birth of William Campbell, son of Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason. A search of births/baptisms in Aberdeen for William Campbell in the first three months of 1819 reveals two; both events are complete with the names of parents included. A similar search for the entire year of 1819 in Aberdeen produces three births/baptisms of individuals with the name of William Campbell, one each at Drumoak, Newhills and Udny; again, parent names are included for all three examples In fact, this is, in my opinion, quite possibly, the best match for date and location of all the competing claims to William Campbell, the son of Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason baptized on 26 March 1819 in Aberdeenshire. THESIS: The William Campbell (1819-1897) who is tracked over six decades of census records following through his life in Canada is the strongest contender for being the son of Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason due to both the consistency of his year of birth being reported as 1819 and the place of his birth repeatedly designated as Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason’s son, William Campbell, was baptized on 26 March 1819 in Drumoak, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. ANTITHESIS: The strongest “antithesis position” would be that the William Campbell who came to Canada is someone with an almost identical date of birth, possibly a cousin, and not the son of Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason. However, to date, based solely on this type of data, no stronger candidate has emerged to claim Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason as parents. Canadian Census Information Most people use a Canadian Census at some point when researching their family tree. We sometimes use the age on a census to take a guess at a family members birth date. Or, just to try to confirm that the age of the person is in the range we are looking for to confirm a family member. Occasionally we look at the age given for a family member and then check the next census 10 years later, only to find there is 11 years, or 9 years, difference in the age of the person. Why is this? Was the census taken before, or after, the person’s birthday? Jean Lawson has supplied some information to help solve these mysteries. We have added a few other dates obtained from the National Archives web page on Census Records. The dates traditionally given below for each census is the “official enumeration date”. The actual enumeration could have taken weeks or months to complete. However, enumerators were instructed to record the information on the census returns as it existed on the official enumeration date. 1825 Census 1831 Census 1851 Census 1861 Census 1871 Census 1881 Census 1891 Census 1901 Census Information contributed by Jean Lawson, Genealogist. Source URL: http://www.generations.on.ca/genealogy/canadian-census.htm |
