Hi all, PLEEEEEEESE can someone help. My gt gt gt grandparents were George Bradbury and Martha Shoesmith. I have their wedding cert which states they were Married in the Parish Church in the parish of Middleton in the county of Lancaster in the Registration District of Ashton and Oldham on Oct 15 (I think as the writing is bad) 1843. Have I got the right Middleton? I have been stuck on this for 10 years. George & Martha came to Australia in 1848. I can't find anything about either of them in England other than what is on the wedding cert which is: George was a spinner, a widower, from Middleton whose father was James, a farmer and Martha was a spinster, no occupation, from Middleton and her father was Jude also a farmer. They were married by banns and the witnesses were James Chadwick and what looks like Mattew Kershaw. The priest? was R. Mc kinson or something like it (again hard to read) .. George, Martha and the witnesses signed their names with a cross with someone else writing in their names so they could be spelt differently. Can someone please give me any info no matter how minor.. Thanking you in anticipation ..... Jenny Fairchild Australia

Hi Jenny, You have got the right Middleton. George and Martha were married on the 15th Oct 1843 at St Leonards Middleton. Below are one or two mentions from my indexes - not yet complete - still ongoing. You will probably need to find both families on the 1841 census. Marriages. St Leonards Middleton. 29 Sep 1816. James Bradbury and Betty Cousen. 1 July 1794. Jude Shoesmith and Matty Kenyon. Baptisms St Leonards Middleton. 25 Oct 1807. Arch. s/o Jude and Martha Shoesmith. Farmer of Thornham. 11 March 1810. John s/o Jude and Martha Shoesmith. Farmer of Thornham. There isn`t a previous marriage for George Bradbury at St Leonards. Could be Prestwich St Marys or Oldham St Marys if he was in the area. I couldn`t find a wife of George buried in Middleton before 1843, but for that period have only indexed 1837-47 (1814-37 still to do). Hope this helps a little. Doreen.