Because Margrett's mystery includes a change of name/identity, it has reminded me of one of my family mysteries. I've shared it with you before, but it's been awhile so I might give it another whirl in case someone has a good idea I can pursue. My 2g grandparents Richard PEET and Ellen DAVEY met on the ship to Australia in 1849 when they were both running away from home in England. Richard (18) and his younger brother Frederick (16) abandoned their well-off silk manufacturing/banking family based in Derby, Manchester and London. The rest of the PEET family actually uprooted to go looking for them, but figured they had gone to America (NY state) where two sons had already settled ... and did not find them! There are quite a few intriguing mysteries associated with the PEET family, but the mystery which concerns me here is regarding Ellen DAVEY. (Also spelt DAVY.) My grandmother (whose information has always proved very reliable) told me decades ago that Ellen had forged her parents' signatures to migrate under the Bounty Immigrants' scheme, and was only 14 when she and Richard married in January 1850. They had settled in the area where the gold rush took place only two years later, and were thus perfectly placed to "cash in", which they did by making and selling gold cradles (for panning). Their first two children (who died as infants) were named after two of Richard PEET's siblings, Jane Virginia and Frederick. The next child was the first of their 10 children who survived childhood. He was named John Edleston PEET. Most of the later children were named after other PEET family members, but the origins of this "John Edleston" name is a mystery ... we know quite a bit about the PEET history going back a couple more generations and there is no sign of any John in our line or any family name EDLESTON, so I assume this name must have come from Ellen DAVEY's side of the family. All we know about Ellen DAVEY is what she herself said. As far as we know, she never had any contact with her family again. She said she came from Exeter, Devon, her date of birth was 8 April 1835, and that her parents' names were George and Sarah. If she was trying to change her identity because she did not want to be found, she may have used a false name, and DAVEY is one of the most common Devon names. It might be hard to hide where she came from, because she would have had the local accent and been familiar with Exeter, and may have been caught out if she said she came from elsewhere. The birth date is suspicious because it is her husband's birthday, but four years later. If she used a false birth date, a convenient way to remember it would be to use her husband's. I have a cousin from another part of my tree living in Devon, and he kindly offered to look up DAVEY families in the 1841 and 1851 Devon census. He found families with parents George and Sarah, but none in Exeter and no Ellen of the right age. There was a family who had a daughter called Lavinia who could have been Ellen, but then he found her in the 1851 census working as a laundress in a nearby town. There were some Ellen DAVEYs but none exactly the right age, and their parents were not George and Sarah. The closest one had parents William and Agnes and did not live in Exeter, and I think she turned up in the 1851 census anyway, so she could not have run away to Australia. So a total blank on finding any Ellen DAVEY of the right age who disappeared between those two censuses. I had been looking for months for links with any EDLESTON families with PEET or DAVEY. The EDLESTON name seemed mainly to occur in the mid to northern parts of England, more around the area the PEETs originated. There is an EDDLESTONE village in Derbyshire, and an EDDLESTON in the Scottish borderland area. But I could still find no mention in connection with the PEETs. There were no EDLESTONs at all in Devon ... BUT then I came across an EDELSTEIN family living in Exeter! Solomon John William EDELSTEIN was a (probably Latvian or German) Jew living in Exeter, married to a Sarah BAKER, who converted to Christianity in an adult baptism on 23 Mar 1837 (C052571), probably adopting the names John and William at that time. According to an 1850 trade directory he was a tobacconist and a tea and grocery dealer. His family is mentioned on the Exeter Synagogue website where they have Jewish Exeter families from the 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses listed. They are only listed for 1841, and seem to have disappeared by 1851. [HO 107/267/4/p.17] 6 June 1841 Census Preston Street, Exeter E4/19 Edelstein, Solomon 25 Devon E4/20 Edelstein, Sarah 25 Devon E4/21 Edelstein, Emely 5 Devon ****** Ellen Davey? E4/22 Edelstein, Jane 3 Devon E4/23 Edelstein, John 2 Devon E4/24 Edelstein, William 6 months Devon (plus Cornet, Ann, female servant) In the IGI I have also found the marriage, and baptisms for Emily (June 1836) and Jane Catherine Mary, as well as baptisms for two children Rebecca and Charlotte born after the 1841 census. One of these children had "G W J EDELSTEIN" listed as her father (G is possibly George, or possibly a mistake for "S"). Many European Jews apparently settled in Exeter for a time in that period, sometimes starting a family, before migrating to the new world. And it's in the new world they turn up ... probably in 1851. The whole family seems to have migrated to Jersey City, Hudson NJ USA. I found marriages in Jersey City Hudson New Jersey for Charlotte Edelston (1861 - age 19) Rebecca Edelstein (1863 - 19. Named one child John Edelstein Fairbanks) John Edelstein (1862 - 24). Also found out he served in the Civil War ... and a child Emily Sarah born 1862 to William Edelstein/Fredeline (also NJ - William age 21). They are definitely the same family. Certification on John say he was born in Exeter Devon England, and gives his parents' names. There is no sign of Emily or Jane EDELSTEIN marrying or having children in NJ or elsewhere in USA however. I could be having complete fantasies, but here is a family from Exeter Devon with a daughter Emily just on the young side of the right age to be my 2g grandmother, who doesn't seem to have gone to NJ with her family. The mother's name is Sarah, and the father has a distinctive name you wouldn't mention if you were trying to hide your identity ... but George could have been one of the "English" names he adopted. Emily has a brother called "John EDELSTEIN", and her father may have gone by that name after his "conversion" too ... the source of the name for John Edleston PEET? If she had named a child after her father or brother she would have been unlikely to use the Jewish/European spelling which could also have attracted attention in her new family context. If Ellen DAVEY was Emily EDELSTEIN, she was probably only 13 when she ran away, and may have been barely 14, but probably still 13, when she married my 2g grandfather. I'd say being so young in this situation she may have adopted a false birth date to appear a few months older as well as to help keep her real identity hidden. This family seems to fit Ellen DAVEY's profile very well, whereas no DAVEY family seems anywhere near it, and it would also explain the EDLESTON name's mysterious appearance in her child's name. What do you think of this hypothesis? Too outrageous? I have been putting out alerts for any descendants of those NJ EDELSTEINs, as I thought someone may have the family legend of a young girl going missing .. but none have contacted me. The only other thing I can think of is to pay a researcher to look up Exeter newspapers of around the time of Ellen's disppearance (between about June and Sept 1849), in case there is a "missing person" report which mentions her name. That's unless any of you have any other suggestions ... Thanks for reading if you got this far ... !! Ruth