On 10/07/2014 08:02, Lawrence Pearse wrote: > Thanks, Charani, for your very full answer which has cleared up a > few issues. YW :) > In terms of searching, both for this death record and the four > birth records, I have searched under both surnames (Watkins and > Bloxam, and variants) and under just the forenames (looking for > likely errors/misspellings of the surname). But I suspect that it > is no coincidence that in all 5 cases there appears to be no > registered record. Nor have I found any death/birth notices in on > line newspapers. William Bloxam (the partner/father) was a man of > substance (an ex-banker and later JP). He was also 45 years older > than Elizabeth Watkins, and indeed in his early 70s when he > fathered the last of the 4 children. Perhaps he had his own > reasons for not having the births/death registered other than > through baptism/burial - though as you say the burial ought to have > required the production of a death certificate. Did William leave a will? If he did, he /may/ have mentioned the children in that. Did he have any older children from a previous relationship? > I must pay a visit to the Westminster Register Office to see what I > can find in their local indices. Westminster is one of those that /can/ be awkward. You would need to make an appointment to see their registers but I understand they cannot legally refuse. They can just be <blankety blank> difficult. Do try the GRO as well. They can be a lot more helpful. > Thanks again for your help. No problem :) -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Ashcott, Shapwick, Greinton and Clutton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk