Joshua WHALEY born c 1811 in Elm (s/o John WHALEY & Mary LEPLA) married Mary Ann Holtham in 1832 and had six children. I found him in the 1841 Elm census, but by 1851 his wife Mary Ann is listed as head of household. I think her condition is listed as "W" widowed although it is hard to read. I am hitting a brick wall as far as finding Joshua WHALEY's death. His last child was born Oct 1842. I have tried searching the BMD using only the last name, using only his first name & even searching for Joshua WHALEY with no county or district restrictions. No luck though. Any help at this point would be much appreciated. Sue, USA

Hi Sue & Listers ! Have you tried some alternative spellings of his surname ? What about WHALE ? - or WHALLEY ? - or WALEY ? - or WAILEY ? All sorts of strange things happen to surnames when they are misheard, maybe due to a regional accent ! - especially if the Registrar was not born locally ? And if there is a 'Soundex' option on the search it may be worth turning that on ? Good Hunting ! Roger. -------------------- On 3 Mar 2010, at 12:02, SUZANNE HILL wrote: > Joshua WHALEY born c 1811 in Elm (s/o John WHALEY & Mary LEPLA) > married Mary Ann Holtham in 1832 and had six children. I found him in > the 1841 Elm census, but by 1851 his wife Mary Ann is listed as head > of household. I think her condition is listed as "W" widowed > although it > is hard to read. > > I am hitting a brick wall as far as finding Joshua WHALEY's death. > His > last child was born Oct 1842. I have tried searching the BMD using > only > the last name, using only his first name & even searching for Joshua > WHALEY with no county or district restrictions. No luck though. > > Any help at this point would be much appreciated. > > Sue, USA > >