Sheila wrote..... >>Actually Roy, this is the problem with Grandma Edith. By the time I was old enough to ask questions she had already passed away. My father,her son, having no interest whatever in genealogy, simply never asked about her past. I have no idea which city or town she came from. Rigth now I'm trying to find out where and when she and Grandpa were married. ( Dad doesn't know this either)<< I THINK I have found your grandmother on the 1881 British Census and National Index CDs (published by the LDS Church from British government census information). There were only two Edith Cockaynes born at about the right time in the whole of the UK, one In Lancashire and one in Derbyshire, Since you seem to be sure that your grandmother was born in Lancashire, then I suspect this must be her..... Dwelling: 93 Franchise St Census Place: Pendleton In Salford, Lancashire, England Source: FHL Film 1341942 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 3945 Folio 56 Page 14 Marr Age Sex Birthplace Robert M. COCKAYNE M 32 M Glossop, Derby, England Rel: Head Occ: Stoker At Paper Mill Sarah M. COCKAYNE M 31 F Bagillt, Flint, Wales Rel: Wife Florence M. COCKAYNE 3 F Pendleton, Lancashire, England Rel: Daur Edith M COCKAYNE 1 F Pendleton, Lancashire, England Rel: Daur Her father was Robert M Cockayne, by the looks of it, from the county of Derbyshire and her mother was from Wales. Salford is technically a separate city in its own right, but actually forms part of the larger city of Manchester. The small town of Glossop, BTW, though geographically in Derbyshire, is only a few miles outside Manchester. Salford and Manchester are virtually indestinguishable, being extremely heavily built up and densely populated. Salford occupies the eastern side of Manchester. The other Edith Cockayne also born at the right time, but born and living in Derbyshire was this one..... Dwelling: Prospect Road Census Place: Heanor, Derby, England Source: FHL Film 1341792 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 3324 Folio 67 Page 12 Marr Age Sex Birthplace Joseph E. COCKAYNE M 22 M Sandiacre, Derby, England Rel: Head Occ: Bricklayer Ana COCKAYNE M 21 F Heanor, Derby, England Rel: Wife Occ: Dressmaker Edith COCKAYNE 2 F Heanor, Derby, England Rel: Daur Agnes COCKAYNE 8 m F Heanor, Derby, England Rel: Daur Henry NORTH U 25 M Leicester, England Rel: Boarder Occ: Bricklayers Labourer If you check out the IGI on FamilySearch, there are a great many COCKAYNE entries. I gave up when I got to 600 and hadn't got past the B initial for the forename!. There would appear to be particular concentrations of them in Derbyshire and Bedfordshire. This is often a good way to work out where your ancestotrs came from - note places in which they appeared in numbers on the IGI. There seemed to be few in Lancashire but I did note the following entries..... Agnes COCKAYNE Sex: F Marriage(s): Spouse: Charles HOPKINS Marriage: 5 Jun 1875 Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England Benjamin COCKAYNE Sex: M Marriage(s): Spouse: Mary Jane CLARKE Marriage: 20 Sep 1865 Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England I wonder if it is just possible these could have been relatives of your grandmother from the previous generation, siblings of her father perhaps? However, you need to do more work before you can assume anything. As suggested in my previous message, I see no reason why you shouldn't now be able to find Edith's birth certificate. Go to a Mormon FHC and ask if they have the UK GRO indexes of births, marriages and deaths. Search them and see if you can find the right entry, then send off for the certificate. It takes a few weeks, I believe, I have never had to do it by post. Once you have your grandmother's birth certificate, it will show the name of her father (which should be Robert Cockayne) and name and maiden surname of her mother, so that will enable you to look for their marriage certificate, which in turn will give you the names of both their fathers and get you back another generation.You should be able to get back to somewhere in the 1840s via this method, then you turn to the earlier census returns of 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 once you have some more addresses. Again, many Mormon FHCs possess copies of the British censuses on film. Best wishes Roy Stockdill Editor, The Journal of One-Name Studies The Stockdill Family History Society (Guild of One-Name Studies, FedFHS) STOCKDILL PREST YELLOW BOLTON WORSNOP GIBSON MIDGLEY BRACEWELL SHACKLETON BRADLEY MOODY in Yorkshire North & West Ridings MEAD YOUNG in Somerset, Wiltshire & Gloucestershire Web page of the Stockdill Family History Society:- http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roystock ”Never ask a man if he comes from Yorkshire. If he does he will tell you. If he does not, why humiliate him?" - Canon Sydney Smith (scholar and humorist 1771-1845)