Last week I posted a question about the Farrar's and whether they were related to Farrer. In it I said I had ordered certificates to try to patch together some Earnshaw names. I was trying to find whether the person christened and buried as William John Earnshaw was the person who was married etc as John Earnshaw (as the wife's first names were the same). Yes they were the same person as address, father etc fitted exactly. But the reason I was trying this search was to try to find where a Joseph Foster Earnshaw (although called John Foster on 1881 census) may have fitted in. I guessed that the Foster middle name meant his mother was originally Foster and there was a marriage of John Earnshaw to Mary Ann Foster. When I looked at the birth certificate, initially my heart sank as his father was Benjamin Earnshaw and mother was Martha (nee Foster). Then it dawned on me - John Earnshaw had a brother Benjamin and he married a Martha something. So I had got it, almost, right. Joseph Foster Earnshaw was a family member - but two brothers had married two Foster girls - I guess they might have been sisters. So from one guess, but keeping a slightly open mind, I managed to fit together a large branch rather than just another twig on the tree. But I wish I could get into their minds and not just see bits of paper. Why did half the family move from Denholme to Wilsden - and then come back again a few years later? Anyway, quite a leap forward, but I wish I lived a bit nearer so I could follow up more searches rather than just save them up for another "holiday" in Yorkshire. Jack Earnshaw "ex pat" from the Bronte country