Finding Catherine’s birth certificate would be a great find. It would give us the actual birth date - right now, we only know that she probably was born sometime in the 1833 – 1838 range. Also, we’re assuming that she was born in Fredericton, but it would be good to pin that down as well. Most importantly, a birth certificate would reveal the names of her parents and that would give us a chance of finding out more about them.

We do know that Catherine was born in New Brunswick from an entry in the 1851 census, but so far a birth certificate has proven elusive. Since birth records in New Brunswick were not required until 1888, it may be that there is no certificate at all. That said, some do exist so I tried a search on New Brunswick's provincial archives database (http://www.snb.ca/e/1000/1000-01/e/index-e.asp) but without success. I'm not all that comfortable with that nil report since my search for Catherine's marriage records on that data base also came up empty. I know that they did get married in Fredericton through a copy of their marriage certificate that we obtained from the New Brunswick Provincial Archives, so why didn’t their online database give us a hit when we tried that search? So, does that mean there might be a birth certificate if we could search through their resources in person? The answer to that question will have to wait for a personal visit to Fredericton. In the meantime, we do have other official records that give Catherine's age at specific times during her life. These are shown below.

• 1851 Fredericton census (as of November 1, 1851) According to this census, Catherine was living with a Rosetta L. Stirling, a female, widow, tenant, 30 years old, origin England. Mrs. Stirling had 4 children living in the house - two boys and two girls, ages 9, 7, 5, and 4. Also in the house was a lady named Jane Clayton who was a lodger, 26 years old, and from England. The information we're really interested in was very cryptic: Catherine Latta, a lodger, 17 years old, and native born (i.e., born in New Brunswick). This information puts Catherine's birth between November 2, 1833 and November 1, 1834.

• 1871 Scotland census (as of April 2, 1871): For this census, Catherine gave her age as 37. This information puts her birth between April 3, 1833 and April 2, 1834.

• 1881 Scotland census (as of April 3): In 1881, Catherine gave her age as 46. This information puts her birth between April 4, 1834 and April 3, 1835.

• 1891 Scotland census (as of April 5), Scotland: In 1891, Catherine gave her age as 54. There was no-one else living with her at the time, so we have some assurance that she provided the data herself. This information puts her birth between April 6, 1836 and April 5, 1837.

• 1891 Death Certificate (October 9, 1891): John Murray Wighton, Catherine's son, gave his mother's age at death as 54. This information puts her birth between October 8, 1836 and October 9, 1837.

• 1939 Letter from Amy Louisa (Hutcheon) Wighton: ALHW says that Catherine was 16 when she married. This would mean that she was born sometime between March 29, 1836 and March 28, 1837.

Here's a compilation of her possible birth dates in chronological order:

1. April 3, 1833 to April 2, 1834 (1871 Census)
2. November 2, 1833 to November 1, 1834 (1851 census, Fredericton)
3. April 4, 1834 to April 3, 1885 (1881 Census)
4. March 29, 1836 to March 28, 1837 (ALW)
5. October 8, 1836 to October 9, 1837 (Death)
6. April 6, 1836 to April 5, 1837 (1891 Census)

Unfortunately, there is quite a range of birth dates that appear possible, from 1833 up to 1837. Records 1 and 2 overlap and present a potential birth date between November 2, 1833 to April 2, 1834. The 1881 census, #3, sits by itself and, as such, it is the least likely. Records 4, 5, and 6 do show an overlap and suggest that Catherine Latta was born between October 8, 1836 and March 28, 1837. Obviously, the data suggest conflicting conclusions.

On one hand, I could argue that the 1833/34 dates are the correct ones, for example, if Catherine got confused about her birth year as she got older. But, what if Catherine really was 14-15 at the time she got married, but was lying about her age so that she could live on her own without attracting attention? Bottom line: we really can't say when Catherine was born apart from it being within the four year time span between April 3, 1833 and April 5, 1837.

Sources

Various web sites, including

New Brunswick Provincial Archives: http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA

ScotlandsPeople Database (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/)