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Agatha Christie’s double bluff in the 1911 census

It seems that crime writer Agatha Christie, author of the Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot detective novels, was somewhat of a mystery woman herself. One eagle-eyed findmypast.co.uk customer, Ian Plimmer, dropped us a line this week to tell us that she actually appears twice in the 1911 census.

Christie, who was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller 120 years ago this month, appears at the home of her grandmother in Ealing, Middlesex on the night the census was taken. The image below shows her listed as Agatha M. C. Miller, aged 20, born in Torquay, Devon.

Agatha Christie in Ealing in the 1911 census - click to enlarge

However, she was also recorded around 200 miles away, living with her mother in Torquay. This census return lists her as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, with her age and place of birth matching the previous record. In the Nationality column on the right of the form, Agatha’s mother noted that her father was American.

Agatha Christie in Torquay in the 1911 census - click to enlarge

We’ve spotted a few examples of people being listed twice in the 1911 census like Agatha Christie was – were any of your own ancestors recorded twice?