Greetings Birkenhead Members, I would greatly appreciate learning any information about my great grandmother Mary BEBINGTON Farrall. The only information I have is from news articles celebrating her 100th birthday and receiving a telegram from King George VI. The articles state that Mary BEBINGTON was born on 6 June 1850, in Lower Bebington. (She died 11 October 1950 in Oxton, Birkenhead). Since Mary was born before births had to be registered, I am at a loss to find her birth parents. I asked one of your members to do a search of the 1851 census for Bebington, from that period and this is what she found: I had a look for your Mary Bebington on the 1851 and this came to light:- Thos Green, Head Married 36 Agricultural Labourer born Bebington Hannah Green, married 40 born Stockport Ellen Green daughter age 7 born Bebington Robert Green son age 4 born Bebington Thomas Green son age 2 born Bebington John Langley stepson age 18 Agricultural labourer born Birkenhead Ann Langley stepdaughter age 12 born Lancashire Liverpool MARY BEBINGTON nurs(e) child age 9 months. On the line above for Ann Langley place of birth is Lancashire Liverpool. For Mary the enumerator has put a ditto under Lancashire and then a capital R? Not sure what that means. There are only two Bebington names on the census - the other a George is lodging in Birkenhead. Also what is interesting is that this family is at the same reference and page number as your Whitehead family so must have lived very close. The Greens are at the bottom of page 111a and top of 111b then one house uninhabited, a Davies family and then the Whitehead family. No address as such is given except for Bebington Township. For the record, Mary BEBINGTON is my paternal great grandmother and Alice WHITEHEAD (above) is my maternal great grandmother, who lived three residences apart. Obviously, my questions are many. First and foremost is who were Mary's parents. Since she grew up in Lower Bebington, perhaps she was baptized at St Andrews (CofE). What is significance of a "nurse child"? If she is an orphan would she be given the name of the town for record purposes - is this normal? As one can see from the above, it is difficult to decipher there information. I cannot locate the birth parents of either my great grandfather John FARRALL (from Manley) or my great grandmother Mary BEBINGTON (FROM Bebington) John and Mary were married in 1872: Cheshire Marriage indexes for the years: 1871 to 1875 FARRALL John - BEBINGTON Mary Tranmere, St. Catherine WR BK16/1/364 Any information the readers may find is greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Cheers and regards, John Farrall Burke, Virginia Researching: FARRALL, DAWSON, BEBINGTON, BRAITHWAITE, WHITEHEAD, SWINDLES, WHITE, HALL