Hi! I have has the problems with names being entered in the wrong order eg Horace Arnold Symonds being shown on his birth cert as Horace Symonds ARNOLD. The double complication in my case being that he was born six months before his parents married, so initially to was registered as Arnold because his mother was Winifred Arnaboldi (the focus of my interest in this list). To see if this was relevant in your case, I searched C1881 for several variations of the surname you give, also Flavio and Albino as surnames. The only one that came up was Albino, with 15 entries between 1819 and 1880. If your grandfather was born in 1885, then we would not expect him to be in C1881, however your real salvation should be C1901 (if it is ever accessible) as it will show his age and where he was born. As there is no sign of his parents in C1881, my conclusion is that he was born elsewhere than UK. However you should be able to find his M. cert if you have found the b. cert of his eldest daughter. I also checked for his parents in freebmd and found 14 entries for Albino as a surname, but nothing else. I share your frustrations and hope you will soon discover what you are seeking. Best wishes from Brian Symonds in sunny Bristol UK. Happy Easter! Bye.

Dear Bryan That was an extremely useful response - thanks very much. Someone told me that the Italians usually write their names as Surname first, and suggested I try looking for ALBINO, and you have done that for me ! I am pinning my hopes on the 1901 census, and I did actually manage to get in on the first day it was open and put in GIOIA and it came back with the message - there are no matches and you are timed out - and I could not get back into it to try for ALBINO - mutter mutter mutter.. >Nope there is no marriage cert. I have been through every quarter from the year 1900, (which was a bit soon as my grandmother was born in 1885!) right up until 1925, when she died, and there is no entry. That does not mean that they did not get married, only that the record did not appear in the GRO. However, ALL the five children are entered in the GRO correctly with GIOIA as the surname. Thanks very much indeed for taking the trouble to look up in the free bmd as well for me I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend Cheers from down-under Eunice