Hello List, My apologies to those who subscribe to the Notts List for the double posting (with amendments). Joseph NORTON, oldest brother of my 2x gt-grandfather, John, is a "brick wall". I have exhausted all research avenues I can think of, checking primary sources wherever available. Any further ideas or information would be most welcome. Background: Joseph was born in Cauldwell, (parish of Stapenhill), Sth Derbyshire, c1787 (parents married in May 1786; brother John born May 1788). No christening will be found for him as this was a family of General Baptists, responsible for establishing the General Baptist church in Cauldwell and later, in nearby Burton on Trent (Staffs), to which chapel the registers were transferred. (Baptists, of course, don't have infant baptisms, but there would have been registers of births and burials). The pre-1837 registers were not deposited with [the] PRO / TNA but remained in the church. Unfortunately, these records went up in smoke when fire destroyed the Burton Baptist chapel in the mid-1960s. (O me misera!!!) A few facts: * By the mid-C19, many of the younger NORTONs had returned to the Established Church; the majority lived in and around Burton on Trent, although one branch had moved to Market Bosworth & Shackerstone and then to Saint Margaret's, Leicester, between 1828 - 1841. * Joseph was still alive in June 1835, when his father made his will, but no sign of him in Burton, Leicestershire or Derbyshire in 1841. * Most of the Cauldwell (and Leics) NORTON family males were cordwainers (shoemakers), back at least to 1700. However, by 1851 necessity forced most of the trained cordwainers / shoe makers to find other occupations / employment. * The Cauldwell NORTONs were property owners, and most appear to have been literate, including the women. * A Henry NORTON, carpenter, son of Joseph NORTON, shoe maker, was born in Cauldwell c1825 (from his 1851 marriage certificate & age in 1851 census where he was lodging in Burton with the family of Joseph & Mary BARNETT - Mary, nee NORTON, b Cauldwell c1799 and, frustratingly, unidentified: probably Joseph NORTON's 1st cousin). * 25 Dec 1820: Joseph NORTON of Cauldwell, Stapenhill m Sarah PICKERING, All Saints, Loughborough, Leics (by Licence) The marriage bond / allegation shows that Joseph was a widower, aged 30, and a cordwainer. (Age 3 years out, but near enough). He signed his name in the marriage register and on the bond. Sarah PICKERING was aged 28, and a spinster. The other bondsman was Benjamin PICKERING, lace-manufacturer. (Loughborough General Baptist birth registers show children of Benjamin PICKERING and wife Elizabeth - d/o Richard & Mary BAXTER - all born between 1815 - 1824. Benjamin was possibly Sarah's brother....?). * 1841 census for Radford RD comes up with this family - none born in Notts - the only match I can find: HO107 / 860: Bk 12, ED 12, Fol 27, P 10: Wollaton Road, Radford Joseph NORTON 50 Toll Gate Keeper N Sarah 45 N Henry 15 Apprentice N Mary 9 N * No sign of this family in 1851 *Death certificate, Nottingham RD, Park SubDist: 28 Nov 1847, Joseph NORTON, 61 yrs, Toll Gate Keeper, died in the General Hospital Stanland? Hill? * This Joseph did not leave a will Given the above circumstantial evidence, and in spite of a few minor irregularities regarding ages, I am reasonably hopeful that this was my missing Joseph and his family. There may well have been other children, born probably in Leicestershire. (I have identified all NORTONs born in, or living in, Cauldwell, Stapenhill, Sth Derbyshire, Burton on Trent, post-1837, and many or most born prior). In 1851, a Sarah NORTON, widow, aged 54, a glove seamer, can be found lodging with the TRAVERS family (indexed by Ancestry as FAVORS!) in Castle Donington, Leics. Like most of this family, her birthplace is given as Castle D. Head of the household was William TRAVERS (40) b Wilne, DBY; wife Fanny (41) b Castle D. Could Sarah and Fanny have been sisters....? Q: Loughborough PRs have not been filmed by the LDS, so I am stuck. A very kind lister (Andy Bradford) checked the PRs for me and transcribed the entry. I would like to see Joseph's signature in his marriage entry (25 Dec 1820). Is anybody likely to be looking at Loughborough PRs and able to take a digital photo of the marriage entry (if LRO permits digital photography), please? I have looked at the BTs, which *have* been filmed by the LDS, but of course don't show the signatures. If anybody recognises any of these families (NORTON, PICKERING or TRAVERS) or can suggest either any way in which I can prove that this was my family, or any further avenue of investigation, I would be delighted to hear. Thank you for your time, and my apologies for the lengthy message and all the questions. Blanche Charles (nee Norton) Wellington New Zealand NORTON Family History Unlimited http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/indexdby.htm Cauldwell Online Resources http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/cauldindex.htm East Midlands General Baptist History http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/EMidBaps.htm