Rikki wrote "My current brick-wall is my maternal grandfather, George Brown… he was born in 1852…. His parents were Joseph Brown and Sarah Clark. Joseph was a marine engineer and it is possible that his pregnant wife was with him and happened to give birth while they were in Newcastle…. ….I have bought copies of birth certificates for George Brown in the Newcastle area for 1850 to 1855." My question would be what do you mean by the Newcastle Area ? Is Newcastle not being used as shorthand for somewhere on the Tyne ? The Father was a Marine Engineer from Leith, the port of Edinburgh; the coastal shipping trade was very active, I would be looking at places such as Tynemouth (North Shields) in Northumberland and South Shields in Durham as likely places where a visiting set of parents may have registered the birth if they where as it seems living “on board” ? Good luck Colin C