Talk:1890s/@comment-27031373-20160220173824/@comment-3493059-20160221012606

Walter was six years old when Rilla was born (in July 1899, in AoI), and Jem was seven. There is one year between Joy and Jem, one year between Jem and Walter, two years between Walter and the twins, two years between the twins and Shirley (at least in AoI; his age in RoI is impossible, as he is too close to Rilla) and two years between Shirley and Rilla.

It's never actually stated in the books that Jem and Walter are one year apart, but this can be inferred from their ages at various times:


 * "It was quite a nice little letter for a seven-year-old who had been going to school only a year to write" (AoI, chapter 3) -- note that Jem is not strictly seven at this time, but we can assume his age is being rounded here.
 * "Even at six, Walter, as Anne realized, could see things that other children could not." (AoI, chapter 7) -- this is when Rilla is about to be born, in July 1899

We know Rilla was born in July 1899 because she turns 15 in 1914. Jem is seven when she is born, so he was born in 1892. Walter is six and a year younger than Jem, so he was born in 1893. Shirley is two at the start of AoI (1899), so he was born in 1897 (please ignore him turning 18 in April 1917, as that doesn't make sense). Jem is almost 14 in RV, making the year 1906, which means that the ten-year-old twins were born in 1895, assuming they haven't had their birthday yet.