In a message dated 7/4/2010 5:47:41 P.M. Central Daylight Time, psym8950@bigpond.net.au writes: >>From around the 1840's onwards a James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS lived in >>Blean near Whitstable in somewhere called James Mall/James Hall and his >>occupation was General Surgeon and Apothecary. In all of the census >>entries during the late 1800's he was given as unmarried and other members >>of his household were Ann Goulden who was always given as his Housekeeper >>or Servant and there were also two others Henry William and Herbert Thomas >>Goulden who were also given as his sons. I assume at some point he must >>have adopted these boys but never married their mother Ann. > Ian in Hong Kong We had a case somewhat like this where there was one child, baptized under the housekeeper's name as her son, but listed on 3 census sheets as son of our ancestor, with his surname. In the census following the death of our ancestor the son was still living on the same farm under his father's name, but after a lengthy lawsuit by other ancestors he was kicked out and then used either surname in census, marriage and birth record info. It got really confusing then as the children used either/or for their surnames, with one seeming to use a combination of both according to an obit for his wife. Annie in Minnesota