Hello List Robin said: I am trying to trace ancestors of Mary Agnes RIST, who married my 3xGGG Alexander SHIRREFS in St George's church, Madras in 1831.In the light of the reference to Rev Thomas ROBINSON at St Mary's Leicester in the death certificate for Mary Agnes' father, Edward, I went hunting for another Rev. ROBINSON who was an archdeacon in Madras around this time and found another Rev Thomas ROBINSON (possibly the son of the one in Leicester).Mary Agnes and Alexander did call one of their ten children Thomas Robinson SHIRREFS, so it looks like this idea has some value. The problem I am having is that I am struggling to verify the links to the ROBINSON family. I am also struggling to understand how Mary Agnes RIST, who if census records are correct would have been 4 years old when her father died, ended up being married in Madras at 18 years old. It sounds very likely that Rev Thomas Robinson is a relation of Mary Agnes Rist, either a maternal uncle or a cousin or some other connection. Mary Agnes could have become an orphan in the care of Rev Robinson. However it is quite likely that Mary Agnes was sent out to India by her mother when she reached a marriageable age. It would be easier for her to be married in India with the help of Rev Robinson's contacts and the large number of unmarried men, compared with the social contacts a widow would have back in England. I think it was quite a recognised practice. I remember reading of one Irish family , where one by one, twelve daughters were sent to India to be married. Some girls were also sent from Australia if there were connections in India. Cheers Maureen (Sydney)