From: "Carolyn and Darryl" <dazwilson@bigpond.com> > George SHEPHARD (b. abt 1829, Yorkshire to a James and Sarah) married > on 17 Apr, 1854, Derbyshire a Charlotte SHEPHARD (b. abt 1832, > Derbyshire.) > > [I have had a researcher try to find this marriage and it doesn't > exist!]> Where did you get such a precise date for the marriage from? Presumably an Australian document, such as the birth certificate of one of the children? Where in Derbyshire was the marriage supposed to have taken place? It is unlikely Charlotte's maiden name was also Shephard, unless she was a cousin. Shephard is a very common name, with numerous variants, so any search would have to take into account different spellings. It doesn't appear at FreeBMD, so far as I can see, nor does George's birth/baptism appear on the IGI. How do you know he was born in Yorkshire? You may have to face the fact that he lied somewhere along the line and there never was a marriage. People often did, you know! -- Roy Stockdill Guild of One-Name Studies: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE