Thomas SMITH bapt 1839 St Paul's, Middle Rasen igi C02857-6 son of John SMITH and Susannah nee FREEBOROUGH. He marries Hannah LEE d/o William Lee and Ann nee SCARBY on 20 July 1873 at The Holy Rood Roman Catholic Church, Market Rasen, Lincs On marriage cert his age is given as 24 yrs and hers 35, his should read 34 years. Hannah is a spinster, John a widower. This is the problem, who was his first wife. 1841 Census - Middle Rasen Lincs, Thomas Smith, aged 2 years, with parents 1851 Census - Middle Rasen, again with parents, 12 yrs a scholar 1861 - Not in Middle Rasen, cannot find him in England. Poss in Army 1869 Dec 29 -  - I have a letter written by Thomas from Hedon, Yorks 29 Dec 1869. He is stationed at Fort Paul, nr Hull, and is in the army. The letter says, Dear Ann, thanking her for sending him a basket of butter for Christmas, and he is going to return the basket in a few days to Ivy Cottage, presumably the one in West Rasen. 1871 Census - Taken 2nd April - Thomas is back in High St, Middle Rasen with his parents, aged 32 years, unmarried and working as a Ag Lab. 1873 July 20 - He marries Hannah LEE at Mkt Rasen R.C.Church. For many years I have searched for a first wife. I cannot be certain he married in Lincolnshire. or Yorkshire.  Tried to follow up every Thomas who married I also have a small coloured photograph in a velvet lined leather case, showing him in uniform, I have had it identified, and he is in the 'Coldstream Guards' The 'Stock' at his neck has been suggested is of the type worn in 1960, it was to keep the Guardsmen's heads up, and it was lowered several times over the years. I have tried every avenue I can think of to try and find the first wife, tracking each possibility thru in various records. i.e Ancestry, FreeBMD, Lincs to the Past, IGI, etc etc; My last hope is that somebody else is researching Thomas or the first wife, from a different angle, hopefully a LincsGen Lister. If anybody else has any suggestions for me to try, it would be appreciated.  Of course he could have married a lady whilst moving around with the Army, the marriage was very short, Thomas is single on 2 April 1871(Census), and has a second marriage to Hannah LEE 20 July 1873 Pat in Grimsby, Lincs