Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Maureen Probert:

‘I have been trying to obtain a copy of my great-grandmother Annie Lyons’ birth certificate. She married George Carter on 23 February 1884 in Bolton Registry office and she died in Bolton in 1905. I have a copy of the marriage certificate and her death certificate but I can’t find out where she was born. One census record says Accrington, another says Bolton. Annie was born around 1863 – I have checked the birth records but I cannot find her birth. Her father must not have registered her birth - his name was Thomas Lyons and I can’t find him either. I just can’t understand why her family don’t seem to exist.’

Stephen says:

‘When a question like this is asked, two thoughts immediately occur to me: firstly, the possibility of birth outside England and, secondly, birth under a different surname.

A quick look at census returns from 1871 to 1901 for Accrington (included in Haslingden registration district), for Bolton district, and more generally for Lancashire county shows that a significant number of the families named Lyons are from Ireland. For example, in the 1871 census, there are 350 persons named Lyons resident in Lancashire with Ireland as place of birth.

This total includes a married Thomas aged 35, born circa 1835/36 in Ireland and old enough to be Annie’s father (although there are no children co-resident with him at the address he is visiting in Halliwell township in Bolton). Unfortunately, very few of these census returns are more specific about place within Ireland, which makes it difficult to take research back across the Irish Sea, although if you track them forward through later censuses you may find out more exact information.

For this first possibility to be true, the information in the 1891 and 1901 censuses (to the effect that Annie was born in Accrington or Bolton) must of course be untrue. It is not unusual for census birth place information to be incorrect – it was simply volunteered by the householders without any evidence being provided or checks being made, and there is plenty of scope for error. This leads me to the second possibility, which assumes that Annie was indeed born in Lancashire.

The second possibility I mentioned takes into account such factors as the high levels of parental deprivation (i.e., death of one or both parents of a child), remarriage of the widowed survivor of a married couple, illegitimacy and informal fostering (“adoption”) patterns. All these complicate family structure, perhaps especially in urban and industrial areas. In other words, even though Annie named her father at the date of her marriage as Thomas Lyons, this may not have been correct – Lyons may have been a step-father, for instance, or a foster parent, and Annie herself born and registered under a different surname.

This may be unlikely; however, it is not impossible that both scenarios – birth outside England and birth under a different surname – are true.

To investigate the above possibilities thoroughly will take time and patience and, very probably, the reconstruction of partial family trees for each candidate, Thomas Lyons, for example, so that by a process of elimination you close in on the truth. It could also happen that you persevere with such searches and still get no closer to finding out the answer. Unfortunately, not all family history problems are soluble and many family historians are left with brick walls which no amount of research seems able to overcome.

Good luck with your research and please let us know how you get on.’

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Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured above, answers your questions.

From Sandra Lockwood in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia:

‘My grandmother’s father had two wives - the first is the one we cannot find. Her name was Elizabeth Hunt, born around 1861 - where we are not sure, but we were told it could have been Wilton, Wiltshire. Elizabeth had two sons to Joseph Manning, my great grandfather; we have the two boys’ birth certificates. The first boy was born Joseph Thomas Manning on 4 October 1881 at 10 Helmsley Street, Hackney, to Joseph and Elizabeth Manning, nee Hunt.

The second boy was born William Manning on 23 February 1885 in Alderbury at the Malt House Cottage Salisbury. His mother was Elizabeth Manning, nee Hunt. We know she existed but we cannot find a birth, marriage or death certificate for her - we know Joseph married Elizabeth Freak in 1889 and my grandmother was born 1890. I have been searching for over 12 months - can you help me?’

Steve says:

‘This is an interesting question. Assuming that you are absolutely certain that Elizabeth Hunt and Elizabeth Freak are definitely two different women, I think the most likely explanation for your predicament is that Joseph Manning and Elizabeth Hunt were never legally married.

Of course, this is not to say that they did not live as man and wife for a number of years, and may have presented themselves as married (the births of their children are certainly registered as if the parents were married). If you check the 1889 marriage certificate of Joseph to Elizabeth Freak, you may find that he is described as a bachelor rather than a widower; if you have not obtained a copy already, you should do so.

If they were not married, however, this gives rise to two other possibilities. Firstly, if Elizabeth, nee Hunt, did indeed die before 1889, her death may have been registered under Hunt not Manning. Secondly, perhaps Elizabeth did not die and the couple simply separated, with the sons Joseph and William staying with their father and their mother going her own way (and perhaps marrying another man as Elizabeth Hunt).

Unfortunately, while these possible explanations are worth considering, they do not make your job any easier, as of course Elizabeth Hunt is a very common combination of names. You would also need to bear in mind at least two geographically distinct areas - Greater London and Wiltshire - and possibly all stops in between and elsewhere.

You mention that Elizabeth Hunt may have been from Wilton, Wiltshire. As you may have noticed, on the April 1881 census there is a domestic servant of her name, aged 20 (born circa 1860/61) and born in Wilton, residing at 13 George Street, St Pancras, London. This could conceivably be your Elizabeth Hunt, unmarried and three months pregnant with Joseph Thomas. There is, however, no way of telling from this document in isolation.

Not all problems in family history are soluble. On all lines of all our family trees, sooner or later we come across a brick wall we cannot break down. Of course we all hope that the brick wall is reached later rather than sooner but sometimes we have to have the wisdom to accept that we can go no further. You may not be at that point in your research yet but I worry that there appears to be no straightforward way of advancing your research on this line.

Perhaps some of the family historians on findmypast.co.uk might have some ideas for you?’

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Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured right, answers your questions.

From Ray Derricott: ‘My late father-in-law was born on 5 August 1907 in Islington. His mother was a domestic servant serving in a house in Islington. The father is not named on the birth certificate. His mother Florence Grace Edwin does not appear on the 1911 census and neither does my father-in law, Reginald Frederick Edwin. I have tried to find about his early life but to no avail.

I know he sailed to Canada in 1929 and returned in 1931. I have his TA military record and his marriage and death certificates. But what happened to him between 1907 and 1929? I would appreciate your help.’

Steve says: ‘In my experience, the vast majority of individuals resident in the areas covered by the 1911 census are findable. In this case, the solution is to consider the background and circumstances: a domestic servant would be unlikely to be able to care for her illegitimate child while remaining in service. Therefore, she would need to find a carer for her child. Moreover, the details of servants resident in their employers’ households are perhaps less likely to be recorded accurately and in full detail: the household form would have been filled in not by them but by their employer.

In this instance, therefore, I searched the 1911 census for a Florence living in the district of the birth and found one candidate: a Florence Edwin living as a general servant with a family named Hopkins at 137 Petherton Road, Highbury, aged 32, single and born in Huntingdon. Checking the birth index, there is a Florence Grace Edwin born in June quarter 1878 in Huntingdon registration district, which lends further support to this being the correct individual. I then searched for her young child living elsewhere and found a Reggie Edwin, aged 3, born in Highbury and boarding at 4 Victoria Terrace, Huntingdon with a family named Marriott.

I am confident that these two individuals are the ones you seek, even though they are not residing in the same household and their names are not given in full. In answer to your question, therefore, I suspect that Reginald spent his early years not in north London but in rural Huntingdon, where his mother was born and doubtless had family and friends. However, it is unlikely to prove possible to find out much more information about his formative years, although doubtless the 1921 census, due to be released in 2022, will place him somewhere in the country.’

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In previous findmypast newsletters we asked you to email us your experiences of tracing your ancestors. Thanks to all of you who got in touch - your stories make for really interesting reading. Read on for Trevor Bailey from South Australia’s fascinating story:

‘My 84 year old mother had long suspected that her father (who was accidentally killed in 1934 when she was still a child) had a previous marriage with children, but it was never talked about by her own mother. As an only child, my mother longed to know if she had any half brothers or sisters. As my grandfather had a rather common name, and lived in London, however, checking for any previous marriages on the General Register Office registers produced too many possibilities to easily investigate.

Seeing as I did at least know my grandfather’s exact date of death, a British friend suggested he could check for a will or probate when he was next in London as I live in Australia. In a week or two, a copy was on its way to me and it named my grandfather’s first wife as a beneficiary. Armed with this information, it was not long before I had obtained a copy of their marriage certificate and then names of two daughters. While they would have been my mother’s half-sisters, both had died just a few years ago.

Tracking down descendants of the two daughters meant finding their marriages to obtain their married names. I eventually found a son for the first married daughter but I thought it unlikely I could ever make contact, assuming he was still living. He might have emigrated, too. I tried findmypast’s Living Relatives search facility and obtained a list of well over 100 possible names and addresses in Britain, as the son’s name is a fairly common one.

On an impulse, I decided to order a birth certificate for the son and found that his parents had the unwitting foresight to give him a middle name with an unusual initial (which had not been recorded on the GRO birth lists). I then repeated the search on the Living Relatives page and narrowed my list down to 11 names and addresses. I wrote a letter to each person, giving some details about my grandfather and my email address. Within a week, I had a reply from the right person and found he had an extended family of children, siblings and cousins, some in Canada. My elderly mother was thrilled to bits with the news.

A rapid exchange of scanned family photos and other documents ensued, then phone calls. We are all now planning a Skype link up and making new holiday plans. Persistence does sometimes pay!’

If you have an experience you’d like to share with us and our readers, email casestudies@findmypast.co.uk with ‘My experience’ in the subject line. We look forward to reading your stories!

Our expert Stephen Rigden answers your questions:

‘Is it possible for a person to appear in more than one census return? In other words, does a census recorder check that all the people named on a census are actually present in the house?

My problem is that I have just recently obtained a copy of a marriage certificate for Norton Dryden Hutchinson showing that he married Maria Cook aged 20 in Southwark in 1870, and her father was Edward Cook, a stationer. Fine, there is a Maria Jane Cook born in 1850, father Edward who in the 1861 census is shown to be a stationer. I cannot find any other Maria Cook with father Edward who is a stationer. The trouble is that the 1871 census has a Maria Cook living with Norton Hutchinson but also a Maria Cook living with her father Edward the stationer.

The situation is not helped by Norton Hutchinson claiming to be a widower in 1881, but I cannot find any death of Maria Hutchinson, nor any 1881 census for father Edward and his wife.’ Mike

Steve says:”Yes! Many family historians come across the situation during their research. As alluded to in your question, each census is a snapshot in time intended to record not who was customarily resident in a given property, but who was actually resident overnight on census night. However, this objective will not have been entirely achieved in any census.

There are many reasons for this. The first is simply that people are not very good at filling in forms. If you are familiar with the 1911 census for England and Wales, you will have seen for the first time the household schedules completed by householders themselves (these were destroyed for the earlier censuses). And you will almost certainly have seen mistakes in filling out the form – for example, the so-called fertility information entered against the man and not the woman, or Nationality completed by English and Welsh natives even though it clearly says that this is to be filled in only by persons born overseas. I have also seen several 1911 census returns where the householder has dutifully but erroneously entered the names and details of all their deceased children: usually, struck out in angry red ink by a Census Office clerk.

So we can expect householders to have made many errors of other types on the household schedules for earlier census years from 1841 to 1901 and for many of these to have been copied across by enumerators into the census returns we see today.

Secondly, the form may have been completed a day or two before the actual census night and then a person usually resident turns out to be away temporarily on census night and is recorded elsewhere as well.

In short, I believe there are reasonable grounds for you to accept that both 1871 census returns refer to the same Maria Cook. The fact that she is recorded under her maiden name Cook rather than her married name Hutchinson in the parental home is not unprecedented and may simply be householder or enumerator error. However, before proceeding further, I would strongly recommend that you conduct further searches and obtain supporting documents, especially the 1850 birth certificate of Maria (to check the name of her mother). Bear in mind that the surname Cook is of course common, London is a populous city, and the occupation of stationer may be expressed in other ways, or may change over time (for instance, between 1871 and 1881), so you do need to proceed with caution so as not to accidentally attach an incorrect but coincidentally similar-looking branch to your family tree.

Finally, although it is premature to leap to any conclusions, it would not have been unheard of for a man to claim to be widowed, and to re-marry, after separation from his first wife. In the mid- and late 19th century, divorce was an expensive and intimidating process and there are many known instances of men, and women, dispensing with the formality of divorce and re-marrying bigamously.”

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