Charles Archbold

I found on rootsireland.ie the baptism of a Charles who was baptized in 1834...you believe your Charles was b. c1819...this Charles was baptized in Kildare and his parents were James and Ellen, which are the names of YOUR Charles's children. Is it possible Charles was not baptized as an infant? or that the date you have for his birth is not correct?

Charles Archbold
Baptism: 07-Sep-1834
Address: Ballyfarsoon
RC Parish MONASTEREVIN, Co. Kildare
Parents: James Archbold, Ellen Carroll
Sponsors: Thomas Archbold
Anastasia Carroll

Hi Patricia!

Thank you for your reply.  I have the original document for Charles' death, dated 1885, which states that he was 66 when he died. That's how I determined his date of birth as being either 1819 or 1818.  Also, I have the original document of his  marriage to Jane Dunne in 1850, which would make him 16 at the time if I were to use the 1834 date. While that's not unheard of, in light of other documents I have, it's probably not the case.  Additionally, I have Jane Dunne's  birth record, dated 1815.  I would assume Charles and Jane were fairly close in age, and it's more believable to me that she was 3-4 years older than he (using the 1819 dob) rather than he being 19 years older than she (using the 1834 dob), but I guess anything's possible! 

Based on the records I do have, it seems the 1834 date is less likely and an earlier date is more likely. Again, I believe Charles likely was born in County Kildare and moved to County Carlow at some point before 1850. I have looked in both counties for his dob but can't find it anywhere. 

I am attaching the wedding record and the death record.  The wedding record is really faded but the entry is the first one in the upper left. You can clearly make out "Dunne" and "Bennekerry". The date is Jan 21, 1850.  

Thank you anyway for taking the time to look this up.

Best

Terri  D.

Terri,

Your assumptions are likely correct! But I did want to mention that the death certificate age may not be right.  The deceased did not give the age; his daughter did.  She may not have known his correct age. She may have been grieving or confused. The person writing down the info may have made a mistake.  Also, people at the time were not so in touch with their age and birth date as we are. Birthdays weren't celebrated in Ireland, people weren't asked for ID like we are today or for their date of birth.  In researching, I have seen a slew of death records that were wrong. So I just wanted to mention that.  Good luck!

Your points are well taken. I guess I have to determine which is more likely - whether it is more likely Charles married at 16 and I perhaps have the wrong birth record for Jane Dunne (which addresses my concern about the big age difference) or the likelihood of Charles' birth record no longer existing.  I'm wondering what the more prevalent custom was in the 1800s. Did people marry earlier than they do today? Did it depend on their economic status?

Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it. 

Terri D.