A further correction (sorry about all this). (And sorry Stan for sending my last message directly to you as well as to the list). I have just come back from perusing the 1861 and 1891 census images for Whitburn. * 1. The Freecen 1861 record which shows the Wilcox family living at Westoe (Piece RG9/3792 Place Westoe-Co. Durham Enumeration District:21 Civil Parish:Whitburn etc...) contains a serious transcription error. Piece 3792 is actually the first page of Whitburn Village, not Westoe at all. And there is William Wilcox on page 1, living in Whitburn (as everyone thought until I introduced Freecen into the discussion) in 1861. So my speculation about Marsden Bay being Lewis Carroll's inspiration turns out to have been pure nonsense. (Ah, well....) * 2. In 1861, theWilcoxes are shown to be living in an un-named and un-numbered house, merely shown as No. 5 in Whitburn Village. In contrast, quite a number of other houses are given names where available. Thus, even the Gardener's House at Whitburn Hall is named as such. I have no doubt that, if High Croft (an imposing two-storey house) had existed in 1861, and the Wilcoxes had lived there, the enumerator would have told us so. *3. The 1891 census shows two unmarried Wilcox sisters (Isabella L Wilcox aged 41 and Mary D. Wilcox 31), their widowed sister Clara M. Hitchcock aged 35, William (Clara's son) aged 6, a visitor, a boarder, and two servants, all living at High Croft. *4. I haven't yet looked to see if there were any Wilcoxes still living at Stafford Lane in 1891. Of those that did live there in 1881, only Isabella moved to High Croft. (Neither Mary nor Clara were living at Staffords Lane in 1881). *5. I have looked again at the 1862 map. That shows one solitary house on the West side of Lizard Lane, close to the bottom (South) end. It seems logical that if it were to be given a street number, it would have to be called "1 Lizard Lane". I am happy to believe that house is where William Wilcox lived. (High Croft, on the other hand, was built at the top of the hill on the East side). *6. A (free) search for current postcodes in Lizard Lane on Postcodeanywhere is quite enlightening. It offers odd numbered addresses from 1 to 99, but only 2 even numbered addresses (8 and 10). The current street map shows numerous houses (in a practically continuous sequence) on the West side, going right up the road to a point well North of the old site of High Croft. But there are very few on the East side. Surely that indicates that the house numbers start from the bottom of the hill, and odd numbered houses in Lizard Lane are those on the West? (Also I find it difficult to see how 1 Lizard Lane could have been High Croft, if that is still a current postal address!) *7 From personal knowledge I know that, at least in the early 1940s, the postal address for High Croft did not include a street name or number - all mail to High Croft was simply addressed "High Croft, Whitburn, Co. Durham", and that was the address shown on the family stationery. I am content to draw the following conclusions (and others are quite welcome to disagree with me if they wish!) : 1. High Croft was probably built in the mid 1880s. (It was not named as the Wilcox residence in 1861, not shown on the map in 1862, not mentioned in the 1881 census). 2. The fact that Wilcox sisters lived in High Croft in 1890 has apparently been taken (incorrectly) as evidence that their father William Wilcox had lived there in 1855. 3. I accept that Lewis Carroll did visit his Wilcox cousins in Whitburn in 1855, but he could not have gone to High Croft at that time. He may perhaps have visited High Croft during his final years, but not when Father William was alive. My best wishes to all who have stayed with this ramble to its end (including those who disagree with my conclusions). Tim S.