Hello Derbyshire List Background: My 3x gt-aunt, Rebecca / Rebekah NORTON, (born Cauldwell, Stapenhill psh, c 1800/1), married William WATSON in St Peter's, Stapenhill, 13 Oct 1823. 4 known children: William (chr Jan 1825, St Peter's, Stapenhill) Mary Ann (b c1826; m Robt BAKEWELL, 1855); Frances / Fanny (b c 1827; m Oliver Thorniloe BROWN, 1848) Joseph (b c 1829; d 1886, Wolverhampton) (NB: Stapenhill, Dby = Burton on Trent, Sts, Registration District) In 1841 [HO 107/192_09, En Dist 10, Fol 7, Page 9] there was no sign of her husband, William WATSON, so presumably Rebecca (shown as "farmer") was already a widow. (A William WATSON, age 50, was buried Stapenhill 1829. Ties in with the birth of the last child - ie there were no further children). In 1851 [HO 107 / 2011, Burton Registration District, Gresley SubDistrict, Fol 616A, Schedule 126], still in Stapenhill, oldest son, William WATSON (25, then unmarried), was head of the household, with Rebecca (50), "Mama", showing as widow and housekeeper. Rebecca WATSON then "disappears". No sign of her in 1861 or subsequent census; no sign of her marriage or death in GRO indexes. NB: A Rebecca WATSON m Wm APPLEBY, Burton RD, 1861. The 1871 census shows her age as 35, so she can be discounted. Also, the death of a Rebecca WATSON, age 59, was registered in Belper in 1857. I have purchased this certificate - she was widow of Peter WATSON, a cotton factory employee, so also the wrong person There is also a Rebecca WATSON, b Castle Gresley c1810, residing in Burton on Trent, who died in Burton in 1892. This Rebecca was widow of Henry WATSON, joiner, b Stapenhill. Again, the wrong person. There is, however, an 1855 Wolverhampton marriage of a Rebecca WATSON & John PEPPER but no further (1861, 1871 census, death or probate index) sighting for this Rebecca. (My Rebecca's younger sister, Martha LOVATT, had moved with her husband and family from Stretton to Wolverhampton, so this marriage has possibilities). I know that there are huge gaps in the GRO marriage indexes, and presumably birth & death indexes as well. Can anybody find any likely PR marriage, from 1851, for a Rebecca/Rebekah WATSON, wid, with age near that of the year, please? Alternatively, any sign of a Rebecca/Rebekah WATSON burial, after March 1851? Rebecca's NORTON family was responsible for having established a General Baptist Chapel and burial ground in Cauldwell c1760s, so many family records will have been connected to General Baptist churches. (Cauldwell and Burton on Trent GB registers were destroyed in a fire in Burton in the 1960s). However, around mid C19, most branches gradually drifted back to the established church. While pre-1837 marriages had to take place in the C of E, after that date they may have taken place in nonconformist churches or register offices, so a later marriage for Rebecca would not be restricted to a C of E, and could well have taken place in a General Baptist church in Derbyshire. And her burial might well have been in Cauldwell General Baptist burial ground. If so, those records have not survived. Any other help / suggestions gratefully accepted. Kind regards Blanche Charles (nee Norton) Wellington-Kapiti Coast New Zealand NORTON Family History Unlimited http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/indexdby.htm Cauldwell Online Resources http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/cauldindex.htm East Midlands General Baptist History http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/EMidBaps.htm