From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   On Sat, 27 Sep 2025 15:26:39 +0100, Peter Johnson   
    wrote:   
      
   >>The "and upwards" is for those who are unsure. If it weren't printed   
   >>there, and there was simply a blank to be filled in with the actual   
   >>age, "don't know" or "unknown" or "not sure" would not satisfy the   
   >>legal requirements. If the actual age is known, then it adds nothing.   
   >   
   >Yes. A lot of people would never have seen their birth certificate, or   
   >birth register entry, and would have been dependent on what they were   
   >told by parents or guardians. And they might not have always been   
   >right.   
      
   Yu just have to look at census records for that. Children's ages given   
   at censuses often do not tally with their date of birth, if known, nor   
   with their age at the next or previous census.   
      
   The clerk filling in (up, out) the form (whether in holy orders or   
   not) might simply go by appearance, and would be saying that the   
   person was over 21. But if they looked 50, it would be silly to say   
   they were "21 and upwards" so they would write "50 and upwards".   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
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   Steve Hayes   
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