>I have his marrige certificate, listing their parents as above, but can't >find parents or him in the1881 census, BVR or Scotlandspeople.gov. The >only marriage, listing names the same as his parents, is in 1887, 6 years >after his birth so thought it highly unlikely that they were the right >ones. Actually it is highly likely they are the right ones. When I do parent searches on the IGI, I find it is quite uncommon to have two different couples with the same names, unless they are common names eg John Brown married to Mary Smith. Robert Bryden Ballantyne is hardly a common name, Annie Maxwell probably more common but the combination is not likely to be duplicated. This could be why you can't find him in the 1881 census. I'd be looking for a Robert Maxwell with an umarried mother Annie. Then when she later married, he would have taken her husband's name who could well be the father Of course I could be wrong but it is well worth pursuing Catherine