Ann Prior Jarvis Diary — Blank Pages, the Name Margaret

Somehow Ann got her dates off, so there are three pages with repeated dates. Here is the last one:

On this page she notes, "My Sisters birthday 21 January 1823."

As with her own birthdate, she has her sister's wrong. What could be the reason for this? We know that they had a large fire and her father lost all his business and turned to drink. Could all the family records have been lost at the time? Were birthdays simply not important to them? They lived at times on the edge of destitution and was survival more important than dates which may have additionally reminded them of sad memories? Did Ann get both incorrect birth dates from her older sister?

Here is Margaret Prior's birth and christening record from Islington, London.

It says:

[1823 March] 23rd    [When Baptized.]
Born Febr 21st
No. 327.
Margaret                     [Child's Christian Name.]
daug-r of
William & Catherine  [Parents Name. Christian.]
Prior                           [Parents Name. Surname.]
Whitecross Street       [Abode.]
Carpenter                   [Quality, Trade, or Profession.]
J.W. Rice                   [By whom the Ceremony was performed.]

Note that Ann named her daughter after her sister, who had been named after her grandmother Margaret Rutherford McEwen. 

I don't know if Ann's mother Catherine McEwan Prior had a sister or cousin Margaret (like I said the other day, the genealogy is a mess and very incomplete on Family Tree), but other than that, from what I can find, the name Margaret has been used in the family — either as a first or middle name — from probably before the 1600s to the present. 

Here are a few of the Margarets:

Margaret Rutherford McEwen (1750-?)

Margaret Prior Noakes Robinson (1823-1908)

Margaret Jarvis Jarvis (1857-1934)

Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson (1878-1968)

Eva Margaret Overson (1897-1932)

Within the past day I've seen lovely pictures on Facebook of one of Margaret Rutherford McEwen's fifth-great-granddaughters and one of her sixth-great-granddaughters, both of whom carry this traditional middle name.