Daverock said:I have come across more than one household in my lines where the youngest of the children on the census records are probably Grandchildren of the Householders being passed off as their own children. This was quite common in the past as a way of saving face for unmarried daughters. Of course they could be perfectly accurate records as menopause pregnancies were common too. There is no earthly way of knowing the truth.
My nature is such that I don't like dealing with uncertainty and knowing that I may have some of the lines wrong in my tree through these possible inaccuracies bugs me.
Has anyone else come across similar in their searches and how did you draw conclusions from what you found?
The only way to do this is include your suspicions in the genealogical record. I have made a few guesses about various aspects of my family, a couple of them aren't very flattering to the people involved. I don't know if I'll ever be able to verify them but I've included them nonetheless in case someone 40 years down the road would like to continue the research.
DNA testing may become very cheap in the future and additional information may be found. Genealogical research is less a science and more of an art and other people may come up with different conclusions.