Hi Listers Not done any family history research for quite a while now and have decided to go back to one of my brickwalls. I have William Matthews (labourer) born in Mattersley in 1821 who married Ann Harris (b c1819 in Barnby moor) in Blyth in 1841. They had 2 daughters, Jane born in 1841 in Ranskill and Eliza born 13th May 1842 in Sutton. In 1861 William and Ann were living in Scrooby without their daughters. I have not been able to trace them after this at all. The death certificates I have purchased have not been theirs. I have found the people on those on the 1871 census and they are not "mine". Cannot find them in 1871 or 1881. Does anybody have any suggestions? Does anybody live near Scrooby and know if there are any parish registers available? I have checked Family search site and the only ones available there are prior to 1837. -- Sheila

Sheila, I found nothing obvious on a quick look at later censuses. There's all sorts of reasons why they might not appear. They died, moved, migrated or are mistranscribed. It will take some hard work to test all those out. I note that there are a couple of possible deaths registered at East Retford for William Matthews between last known address in 1861 census and 1871 census. That in Dec 1869 is a close match on age. You might think about obtaining the certificate. There are also a death for Ann in the same quarter but the age looks out. Did they die both die from something like a flu epedemic? Perhaps that solves the mystery, but keep your mind open to other options. Peter