Could SKS please help with an 1881 census look-up. I should add before you start that this is a difficult one that has defeated me for decades, even with the help of the LDS 1881 census fiche (the CD version wasn't out when I last tried). I'm looking for my great grandmother Ellen NICHOLLS. She was born 9th November 1861 in Oldbury, Worcs, so should be 19 in 1881. In 1871 she was at Brades Road Oldbury with her widowed mother Mary NICHOLLS. In 1881 her future husband John BERESFORD was at Lodge Street, Oldbury Worcs. In May 1882 she married him at Wolverhampton St Matthew. Both gave their address as Horseley Fields, Wolverhampton. John BERESFORD was a boatman, and Horseley Fields is, of course, by the canal, so there is a possibility that in 1881 Ellen NICHOLLS was elsewhere on the canal network. >From 1884 John and Ellen BERESFORD (nee NICHOLLS) are back in Oldbury. I've failed to find Ellen NICHOLLS on the 1881 LDS fiche in Worcs, Staffs. Warwicks or Salop. A search might be needed like this, perhaps: First Name: Ellen or Eleanor or Helen. Surname: NIC* (I've encountered NICHO(L)L(D)S, NICHOLAS, plus all versions with K instead of H, not to mention NICKLES(S) and NICKLOS) Age: 15-25. Sorry about all the complications, but this one has been bugging me since 1982 when the census first came out! TIA Paul Prescott