Graham wrote: > Elizabeth WICKSON b 30 August 1832 Abingdon Berkshire parents > Elizabeth and Joseph WICKSON.(Non Conformist records). > > She married William SMITH 25th August 1856.in Haseley Oxford > > On the 1841C she was residing with Gabriel and Sophia BILLING in > the civil parish of Great Haseley Oxfordshire. > > On the 1851C she was still living with the above and this time she > was described as Daughter in Law. She was not a Daughter in Law in > the modern sense! so therefore does this mean that she was adopted? > because I could not find any records of her parents. In the past, son- or daughter-in-law often also meant stepson or stepdaughter, which would imply that her real father had died and her mother had remarried. But in this case that would mean that the mother's name had changed from Elizabeth to Sophia :-) So perhaps she WAS adopted. But Great Haseley is about 10 miles from Abingdon, so it's less likely to be a case of neighbourly sympathy -- which anyway didn't happen very often because no-one had any money to spare. What were Elizabeth WICKSON's and Sophia BILLING's maiden names? Were they related? What do the marriage record and her marriage certificate say about her parents? You say you found no record of her parents -- presumably that means they don't show up in 1841. What about Abingdon Burials etc? Not there either? Have you looked under WIXON? DaveB