Genealogy Chat

I have a couple of ancestors with a tick in the above mentioned box and wondered if anybody had any tips on where I might find more information on these 'conditions' please?

Thanks

A lot depends on the age of your ancestors

If elderly it could just be they have dementia

For younge women could be Post Natal Depression

And there is no way to read betweens the lines in the case of such things as Downs Syndrome.

The problem being that in one area an elderley person could be callled an Idiot and in another and Imbecile.

Not too sure if you would ever be able to tie down exactly what the problem was.

I have even found Moron!!!!

Are you sure that it implied that they have a disability / condition ?
Could it just be an enumerator's tally mark, while calculating entries?

The instructions on 1911 state that the condition should be clearly stated, ....... although I agree that that is then open to interpretation.

Gwyn

Often the enumerator put a tick in that column if the person was born in another county.

It just seems odd that 2 members of the same household have a tick in this box on the same record

Can you say which census you are looking at and the name of the family please so that we can check for ourselves?

Kath. x

There are lots of different definitions if you google them. This one was taken from Rootschat:

Lunatic.....An insane person. A person of often normal intelligence who
through mental or metabolic disease has descended to madness.

Idiot.....A person of permanent extremely low intelligence and usually quite
incapable of self-care FROM BIRTH.

Moron.....A person of permanent low intelligence (when adult, about equal to
a mental age of 8 to 10 years) FROM BIRTH. Today the preferred term is
"retarded". This is not as severe as idiocy.

Imbecile..... A person of previously normal intelligence who has descended
through disease (syphilis is one cause) or occupational exposure (lead and
mercury are good examples) to a moronic and occasionally idiotic condition
There are many other possible causes.

I doubt if the different categories were very strictly applied in the census.

Adam, were the 2 people who have a tick in that column born in another county?

Definition of terms used on Census returns England & Wales 1841 - 1891 :

Lunatic : a mentally ill person with periods of lucidity

Imbecile : persons who have fallen in later life into a state of chronic dementia

Idiot : persons who suffer from a congenital mental deficiency

In all the cases that I've seen where the subject actually has a condition, the condition is named. The box doesn't just have a tick. I would think that is to do with something else.

I would have thought it would of named the condition You normally see "Blind from birth" ect

not sure if this will work on lots of marks in that column

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/7814/LNDRG13_161_163-0496/2259363?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3duki1901%26h%3d2259363%26indiv%3dtry%26o_vc%3dRecord%253aOtherRecord%26rhSource%3d6598&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord

Jax

It looks as if the marks in this example are showing all the people born outside of the London area.
ie. counting marks

Gwyn

The condition of the person is not shown as a tick in the column ............................. the condition is always named.


Any ticks are the result of marks made while transferring information from the one page to another OR while counting.


If you count up the ticks in that column on some pages .......... 100% of the people would be imbecile, etc IF the tick indicated the condition

I am looking at Joseph Thickpenny 1901 Census, Luton Beds, born Newport Pagnell Bucks, born 1853 (48 at time if census). Curious as his niece appears to be living at the house and she has a tick in the box also. Haven't seen this tick on any other Census records - although 4 people have a tick on this page, he and his niece are from the same place. Perhaps everyone else is right, maybe they have marked those not originally from Luton?

I've just taken a look at the page. As pointed out before, the only people ticked are those not born in Bedfordshire.

The same applies on the following pages. The 2nd page past your Joseph, actually has someone with a condition, and "paralysis" has been written in the column.

Thanks all for your help. Really appreciated. Just thought I might have been onto something interesting. The search continues... ;-)

Sorry to put something else into the equation, but a relative of my husbands was put down as an imbecile, and she was blind ! Thank goodness times have changed !!!!!!

EVEN DEAF PEOPLE WERE GIVEN THE TICK