Well would you ever- Just in case you were in suspense LOL...we have solved the William Matthew Hale/Eliza puzzle. Discovered William, perfumer, on the 1851 as Hall and married to Isabella(Batten), St. Saviours 1840. They have all the family, Louisa 10, Sarah 7, Emily 6, William 5 and Ann 2 with them . Isabella Hale died in 1852 in Newington probably from exhaustion I would imagine if not from childbirth!! Then along comes Eliza Jones and a marriage banns is called in 1861 and they actually married in 1864 becasue by then they had 5 children. and by 1871 they had 8 still at home and Matthews previous 4 were married or elsewhere and by 1881 Eliza was a widow living with her daughter Alice and her husband, together with their baby Alice and Eliza's daughter Elizabeth aged 12. That doesnt explain the 1871 America bit or the age given for Eliza, but we think that William was so harrassed that he said the first thing which came into his head!. Perhaps even -she was the Eliza with a criminal record for Larceny and he was trying to protect her from the authorities. But there are thousands of Eliza Hales so could be any one of them. The End......Phew. Eileen. http://www.epfranchi.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page1.htm