Good afternoon I am hoping someone in Somerset might be able to tell me if they are related to an man called Edward HARTLEY born 1806 Yeovil and married Betty HARRIS? Henry says he was a LANDSCAPE Artist in the 1851 census and I wondered if anyone has heard of him or could direct me to somewhere - to find a piece of his art? His son was baptised in Dorset so I am not sure if they moved there or not but as Yeovil records are in Dorset and Somerset I am a bit confused Thank you in anticipation Jill in South Australia

Jill, A quick look at Google shows a number of artists with combinations of Edward and Hartley in their names. I'd suggest a bit more research would help. Check out his occupation in as many censuses as you can to see if he continued as an artist. Find his marriage, death and all his children. Check for consistency of age and birthplace. There are many sites where you could look for submitted family trees:- Ancestry, Rootsweb, Family Search, GenesReunited etc. Try "Edward Hartley" + "Betty Harris" in Google. Peter

Jill, There are a number of trees for this couple on Ancestry, including the branch that went to South Australia. But they are riddled with errors including Somerset USA and copious copying. And almost without exception, they have failed to find a death for Edward. Peter

Jill, I teach genealogy classes as well as do the occasional paid research. So I usually insist people learn by doing their own research. Otherwise they pay for me to do it. But I was at a loose end, and feeling a little generous today. I was also a bit put off be the poor quality of the submitted trees on this family. It couldn't be that hard. As I suggested, looking at every available census tells the tale. In 1841, Edward was a hair dresser at Hendford near Yeovil. In 1851, as you found he was a landscape artist at Hendford In 1861, Betsey looks to have died. Edward is not with the children at Yeovil. In 1871, he's a picture dealer at Camberwell in Surrey In 1881, I can't find him. He's possibly died. One key fact in 1851 census is that his birthplace has a note saying "uncertain of birthplace, possibly London". Each census has a different suggestion. It looks like he died between 1871 and 1881. There are a number of possibilities in the London area with similar ages. Each would need to be checked. If you could pin that down, you could then look at UK Probate records. There's numerous possibilities. If you happen to contact any submitters on Ancestry, encourage them to make corrections especially fix Somerset USA. Otherwise, they negate possible matches. Even Yeovil is spelt incorrectly. Peter in Sydney