Time for a Party

We could help Ephraim celebrate his birthday if we knew when it was. A law was passed in England in 1837, to record all births, marriages and deaths. He came on the scene a bit before this and it does not make it easy to track him. He obviously did not get an “A” for maths either as he could not add up the years very well. In March, 1832, he was 18. In April, he was 19. In Feb, 1836 he was 23. So far, so good. However, in March 1839, only three years later he was 28. This does not add up! Worse is to come. In 1850, he was 32. In 11 years, he has only gained 4. (should be 36) In 1867, he is suddenly 60. (my count, 53) If you had just killed somebody, by accident or design, it would probably age you too. I read somewhere once that if you were 60 or more, you did not have to go into solitary on arrival at Port Arthur, so there were good reasons to be that old. When he died, his age was given as 88. He could not be responsible for this one; after all he was deceased. Someone else, bad at maths had to fill in the form. I think he was really 78 or 79.

We have to decide when we are going to break out the party hats and whistles because, sometime in the next couple of years, he is going to be 200 years old! We could all go to Sheffield where he is buried to celebrate with him. Seats are already provided. He is under the toilet block!