Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Fabianna Perras

I've come across an interesting mystery that's something new to me. I've been tracking the family of Raphaël Perras and Marie Auxilia Beaudin through the censuses. Raphaël and Auxilia moved from Quebec to Manitoba in the 1870s, and had a family in St. Francois Xavier.

The one child that's causing me problems is Fabianna Perras. Fabianna is recorded as Raphaël's and Auxilia's daughter in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. She was born in 1899. However, the 1906 census records a son named Falianna (looking at the original image, it could be Fabianna). While the transciption put his age at 7, which would make him born in 1899, when I looked at the original image it pretty clearly says 4.

So, are these the same child? If so, is Fabianna a boy or a girl? Was he or she born in 1899 or around 1902? Or, did this family have a daughter named Fabianna, and then a son named Fabianna or Falianna? That doesn't seem very likely, since they never both appear in the same census, and the daughter was obviously alive in 1906 since she is in the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

Another hint appears in the 1916 census, where once again we find Fabiana, a daughter. Here she is 17 years old, so born in approximately 1899. Therefore, I think it's safe to say that the 1906 census is simply wrong.

It's a strange error to make, though. This isn't a Quebec census, where fils (son) and fille (daughter) are abbreviated very similarly, making transcription of gender difficult. This census is in English, and quite clearly says "son".

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