In a message dated 19/07/2005 18:37:16 GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: have come to a stop on the downing family i have a daughter Rebecca Downing Born in the district of Botesdoll suffolk england on the 17th july 1855 That should be Botesdale, Suffolk. It is about 6 miles southwest of Diss on the Diss to Bury St. Edmunds road. On the 1871 Census she is living as a farm servant at Mellis, born at Mellis, Suffolk, which is a couple of miles east from Botesdale. In the 1861 Census she was living in Mellis with her aunt and uncle Frederick and Maria Downing. Again she is listed as born Mellis. Frederick was an agricultural labourer, born in Redgrave, about a mile north of Botesdale. In the same Census there is a Sarah Downing, born in Mellis, age 25, unmarried, with a daughter Ella Downing age 2. She is a visitor with a Frederick Barham, "married" but no wife listed, who also had two sons Thomas and Frederick aged 4 and 1. The place is Wortham about two miles north of Mellis. It seems highly likely that this Sarah is the mother of Rebecca. Mellis is about 4 miles southeast of Diss, which is in Norfolk just over the boundary with Suffolk. It is very likely that Sarah is related to my Downing families of Diss and Roydon, who go back to the 1500's, but I can't make a connection at the moment. One problem with the Downings was their propensity to having illegitimate children, and it looks as though Rebecca was such a child - the lack of a father on her birth details strongly suggests that. Assuming that Frederick Downing was the brother of your Sarah, a search of church records around Mellis/Botesdale might show you who their parents were. There isn't a register for Botesdale - it was Redgrave cum Botesdale Parish, and I suggest you search that first. Adrian.