Census Records - Beyond the Names and Dates

Crista Cowan shows you how to go beyond the basic facts in census records and pull details together that will give you new insights into your ancestors' lives.

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[Onedozengrandkids]

@EmmasAngel07 and @scb1841, thank you for your responses. I have seen this before regarding Ireland and its name changes, hadn't thought of it regarding Poland and/or Prussia. I've also seen some outright lying about birthplaces in one Irish family I'm researching for a friend. It's been very amusing, watching her grandfather's lies become more and more brazen with each census.

[scb1841]

The borders of Poland have been extremely fluid over the centuries. Her parents' birthplaces may have been in an area under both Polish and Russian control at different times.

[EmmasAngel07]

I haven't seen all of this ep, however I can tell you that this is not uncommon to have different birthplaces. If you can find a birth record of your ancestor or baptismal record that shows the birth, then you can verify the birthplace. Also some places like Prussia for example were part of Russia and Germany depending on location. The same things could hold true for Poland as well.....

[asaphken1943]

How about some information on British census forms we miss out.

[Onedozengrandkids]

What about the discrepancy between Ida Horowitz's parents' birthplaces on the two census records? One says her parents were born in Poland, the other indicates Russia.