Let me amend my own scenario... > The CARBIS story involves another family with a complicated set of > relationships that can best be explained in the context of the following > household that appeared in the 1881 Census at Boat Mans Row, St. Just in > Penwith - > > James CARBIS, head, widower, 52, stone breaker (road labourer), born St. > Buryan > Jane KESSEL, housekeeper, widow, 46, born Gulval > Henry KESSEL, son, unmarried, 20, tin & copper miner, born Penzance > William CARBIS, son, 12, scholar, born St. Just > John CARBIS, son 10, scholar, born St. Just > > James Tregear CARBIS (bap. 29 Jan 1826 St. Buryan, s/o Richard CARBIS & > Elizabeth TREGEAR) married Margaret WALLIS (bap. 30 Jun 1822 St. Just, d/o > Richard WALLIS & Catherine ROWE) at St. Buryan on 24 Nov 1849. They had > at > least 7 children, none of whom were part of the 1881 household shown > above. > Margaret died at Trewellard, St. Just and was buried at Pendeen on 26 Apr > 1865. > > Jane SYMONS (b.ca.1836 Gulval, d/o John Hockin SYMONS & Jane TREMBATH) > married George Henry KESSELL, with the event registered at Penzance during > 3Q1856. George & Jane had at least four children: George Henry (1858), > Mary Jane (ca.1867), William (ca.1868), and John S. (1870), and it was > likely the first of those children who was with his mother in the CARBIS > household at the 1881 Census. On closer inspection, it is likely that Mary Jane (b.ca.1867, d.1875), William (b.ca.1868), and John S. (b.1870) were children of Jane's relationship with James CARBIS. The three were shown with the KESSELL surname in 1871. Mary Jane subsequently died, and William and John Symons were shown with the CARBIS surname in 1881. Just one more twist in a complex plot! > George Henry KESSELL, Jane's husband, was > apparently a "traveling man", since he was not with his wife and children > at > the 1861 or 1871 Census. She counted herself as married (not widowed) in > 1871, but George Henry was out of the picture at some point during the > following decade. > > Widow Jane SYMONS was clearly more than a housekeeper for widower James > CARBIS. They had established a close relationship resulting in the birth > of > two sons, William CARBIS (who married Mary Elizabeth NANKERVIS) and John > Symons CARBIS (the boarder in the John MORRIS 1891 household at Carnyorth > Cottage). Bill Curnow Port Charlotte, FL, USA