Good morning all This is my first post. Have been lurking for a while, learning & puzzling in equal quantities. I am looking at the JAY family in East London/Essex, mostly West Ham area. I've dabbled for a while on the Internet using the various censuses & BMD etc, backed up with certificates from the GRO. I think I've done the "easy" bits as I'm back to my ggg grandfather born c1817. I have lots of questions but not really sure where to ask them! So please feel free to redirect me. I now have a stumbling block in the above mentioned relative & his family. His name was George James JAY who worked as a bricklayer, son of Henry, a butcher, (date & place of birth/residence unknown - information from George's marriage certificate where he is listed as a witness). I have found no trace of Henry. George is on the 1841 Census in Romford, lodging with his future wife's family, Hannah (HOMSTEAD/HORNSTEAD - there's another story..), they got married in 1841 in St George in the East and in 1851 he is in Auction /Austin Place, Angel Lane, Stratford. I can find no trace of the family in 1861. By 1871 all his children (Roberta, Hornstead, Harriet & Martha) are living with his son, Henry, in Porters Town, Prittlewell. His birthplace on the 1851 census is given as Great Horkesley. I have found two deaths in West Ham, one in 1852 & one in 1869. Can anyone help me move forward (or backwards or sideways!) with this? Maybe I've got something wrong? All suggestions very gratefully received. Sally-Ann Jay Greenham, Berkshire