Hello list! Like all of us, I have used a lot of family myth and lore to help me find solid facts to support events and relationships in my family tree. There is usually a morsel of truth somewhere in a story handed down to me if the layers of it can be peeled away to expose it. It is through one particular story surrounding my Sleddall family that I've been able to unearth many new details which correct previous misunderstandings. I have been searching (without much success) for my gr-gr grandmother, Mary Theresa Sleddall, in her childhood. She was born 24 April 1842 to Thomas Sleddall and Mary Sewell in Carlisle. No matter how far flung the descendents of my family are now, we all were told that Mary Theresa was from a wealthy family, disinherited for marrying beneath her. Mary Theresa's father, Thomas Sleddall, *was* a wealthy "Gentleman" of some standing from the town of Kendal. Thomas' older brother, John Sleddall, used his fortune to build the Sleddall Almshouses in Kendal,! as well as support other philanthropic causes. John Sleddall died without having children. It was always the supposition that Mary Theresa's father was John Sleddall, and she should have been heir to his money. When in fact, this inheritance wasn't necessarily due to her because her father was *not* John Sleddall. Mary Theresa's father, Thomas Sleddall, died 6 October 1843 as a result of an accidental overdose of laundanum administered by his wife Mary. So, Mary, who was pregnant with her second child (named Elizabeth), was a young widow left to care for the infant Mary Theresa. I have found Mary Sewell Sleddall on the 1851 Census (surname misspelled Sleddale) in Botchergate, Carlisle living with an infant daughter Ann. I believe Ann was an illegitimate daughter since no father was named on the birth certificate. There is no sign of Mary Theresa and her sister Elizabeth in 1851. Later that year, infant Ann died. As of the 1861 Census, Mary Sewell Sleddall is still residing in Botchergate, Carlisle, now with son John William. I believe John William is also an illegitimate child since no father was named on his birth certificate. Mary Theresa does re-appear, but in Warrington as a confectioner's apprentice in Market Gate. Still no sign of sister Elizabeth. Mary Theresa and Elizabeth married in Warrington. Mary Theresa to Henry Wood on 24 May 1868, and Elizabeth to Frederick Tongue in 1876. I don't think these two young, single women would make their way to Warrington from Carlisle without something bringing them there. And this is where the family lore comes in. I was told that Mary Theresa was raised in a convent. Maybe there was a convent in Warrington where the girls spent their childhood? I would presume their mother felt incapable of raising the girls without a husband and placed them there? I have found a marriage entry on the GRO index for Mary Sleddall in Carlisle, 4Q1864. I am expecting that certificate at any time. However, I don't think the marriage certificate will give me anything to further the story of Mary Theresa. Does anyone on this list have a suggestion as to what happened to Mary Theresa? Why she doesn't appear on the 1851 Census? How she could re-emerge in Warrington as a 17 year old girl working as an apprentice? I hope this story wasn't too long-winded that you listers gave up reading after the first paragraph! Lisa Hopp Seattle, WA