Dear List I have a conundrum, and would like to ask for help. The previous message under Webb-Shugg was not a marriage, but a birth registration, and it helped to solve a mystery and opened up more questions. Stephen Webb was born 19 Feb 1856, Adelaide, to parents John Webb and Eliza Shugg. I have a Stephen Shugg who married Elizabeth Gravil in 1880, giving his age as 22, father Richard Shugg. His death in Sydney, age 66, in 1922, also records his father as Richard Shugg. Both ages indicate a birth year of 1856, so that ties up nicely with Stephen Webb's birth year. No Webb-Shugg marriage in the UK or Australia. Stephen Shugg is a very unusual name across the Shugg's of the 1800's. There were only 2 in Australia. So, this looks to me like he was an illegitimate child, who was raised in a family where he was told that his father was a Richard Shugg, or was indeed raised in a household where the grandfather was a Richard Shugg, and he grew up believing that his grandparents were his parents. It would seem obvious that the Eliza Shugg, (parents James and Elizabeth Shugg from Helston) who later married James Dibell in 1871 was his mother. Yet, I'm not 100% convinced. Richard is also not a well used name amongst the Shugg's. In Eliza's family, the only Richard is an older brother who marries and moves interstate to Victoria by Feb 1855. In fact Richard does not occur in her Shugg family at all. There is another Shugg family group in Adelaide at the time (unrelated to Eliza's parents by 200 years), headed by Richard Freeman Shugg. They are a stable family unit and remain in Adelaide. Stephen grew up in South Australia and married and had his children there, before moving to Sydney. Richard Freeman Shugg's daughter Elizabeth wasn't born until 1851, but he has a niece Elizabeth Vining who travelled to Adelaide with them, and in 1858, marries his son. I'm wondering how possible it is that there was a fabricated changed of her name when registering the child. Most likely Stephen believes his father is a Richard Shugg, because that is what he has been told. So, I'm looking for any supporting evidence such as a Census to put the picture together. As you can see, I'm trying to think my way through this one. Apologies for the long story. Are there any other records like Census or election records, that could be checked, to find who Stephen is living with between the years 1856 and 1878, when he married? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Cheers Rowena