Hello from snowy Geneva, Switzerland. I'm a newbie here, so I hope it's appropriate for me to share here my challenge with my research on my great grandfather's parents. To explain the problem (and to help me walk it through in my own mind), I've summarised here what I know. My great grandfather was Lewis Lewis and in the 1881 census he was 2 years old living with his parents Charles and Elizabeth at 141 East Rd, Shoreditch, London. That tallies with what I've been told by one of his nieces - that he was born on 1 May 1879. My father once told me that his grandfather had brothers called Moss and Mark and a sister Amelia, so again, I'm fairly confident that's him together with other siblings Barnet, Abraham, and Joseph. His father is Charles, a fruiterer aged 36, born in York. He also appears in the 1891 census (as Louis), and again in the 1901 census, where his father, Charles, seems to have suffered some amnesia and was now born in London. Depending on the year, Elizabeth's age is 6-8 years less than Charles'. In the 1871 census, the only Charles Lewis from York of the right age is a "Traveller in Pictures" lodging at 8 Mount Street, Whitechapel. So if this is the right Charles Lewis, I need to find his marriage to Elizabeth between 1871 and 1877 when his oldest child Amelia is born. Of course, there's no record of marriage in East London between a Charles Lewis and an Elizabeth between 1871 and 1877, so here's where my challenge really starts ... My hypothesis: I know that Lewis Lewis also had a son called Charlie. I know that Charlie's real name was Isaac, so is it possible that Charlie was named after his grandfather Charles, and similarly his his grandfather was really called Isaac? Searching for a marriage between an Isaac Lewis and an Elizabeth between 1871 and 1877 in East London gives a possible candidate: Isaac Lewis marries Betsey Emanuel in mid-1875 in the City of London. The marriage certificate reveals that they were married at the Great Synagogue on 18 Aug 1875. Isaac is a Traveller (match 1: for "Traveller in Pictures") and his father is Levy Lewis a Commission Agent. His and Betsey's address at the time of marriage is the same (perhaps they are already living together, or boarding with his in-laws?) Betsey's father Barnet Emanuel is a fruiterer (match 2: Charles' entrée to the trade, perhaps). Betsey is now only 4 years younger than Isaac (can I count that as match 3: is it really so suprising that unlike him, she got "younger" with age). You can probably see that I feel like I'm clutching somewhat at straws - can anyone reading this see any way that I could verify my hypothesis? If I'm on the right track, I seem to be home and dry with Barnet. 6 years earlier in the 1881 census, he and daughter Betsey (Elizabeth in the census) are living at 18 King St. Elizabeth's mother is Amelia (match 4 for Charles' oldest daughter). 10 years before that, in 1871 (when Barnet[t] is an orange merchant) and in 1861 (when Barnet is an orange dealer), they are living at 9 King St. However, having stetched credibility as far as I feel I can to find Charles's marriage, I've now hit a dead end with Levy Lewis - no trace of him or Isaac/Charles' birth in Yorkshire in around 1844. A family rumour says that the name Lewis was derived from Levy because Lewis was a better name for trading. I can imagine that Charles Lewis was a better trading name for a Traveller in Pictures than Isaac Levy. But my searches on Isaac or Charles Levy have proven no more fruitful. So if anyone reading this can offer me some inspiration, I'd be very grateful for any suggestions on where to look next and whether, in your collective experience, I have already looked too far in my search for a solution. Steve Lewis

Hi Steve, You don't say if you have your grandfather Lewis's birth certificate? That would give you his mother's maiden name. That in turn would tell you if the Isaac LEWIS/Betsey EMANUEL marriage in 1875 is the correct one and would enable you go backwards with more confidence. In any case it can sometimes be easier to find a "missing" marriage if you have two surnames to search on, rather than just the one. Regards Elly On 15/04/2008, Steve Lewis <slewis@slewis.co.uk> wrote: > My great grandfather was Lewis Lewis and in the 1881 census he was 2 > years old living with his parents Charles and Elizabeth at 141 East Rd, > Shoreditch, London. That tallies with what I've been told by one of his > nieces - that he was born on 1 May 1879. > > I need to find his marriage to > Elizabeth between 1871 and 1877 when his oldest child Amelia is born. > Of course, there's no record of marriage in East London between a > Charles Lewis and an Elizabeth between 1871 and 1877, so here's where my > challenge really starts ...