Thanks once again, Robin. Hmmm . . ., well now . . .. I'm still inclined to think that this is the JAMES WAITE I believe him to be! (i.e. aka James SKIDMORE!) But, I wonder if someone could kindly check if there is a baptismal record for him, please. Census returns record his birthplace as Lower Heyford; the GRO ref is James WAITE, Q2 1868, Bicester. Banns for James Wait's marriage to Mary Ann Clements were said at North Aston on 31 Jan, 7 & 14 Feb 1897 but they weren't married there; the GRO ref is Q1 1897, Bicester (WAIT and CLEMENTS) - and, again, a parish register lookup would be greatly appreciated. It would be a lovely eureka moment if one or both of these entries included the name SKIDMORE as I feel fairly sure that this was this James's given surname for the census returns of 1871, '81 and '91 as well as for his enlistment into the Militia in 1892. Throughout this time he could have been known as James "SKIDMORE junior", eldest child of James and Louisa (née-Wait) Skidmore who married 6 months or so after his birth. >From his own marriage in 1897, on through the North Aston census returns of 1901 and '11, and ending with his burial entry on 22 April 1927 in the North Aston register, he appears to be James WAIT(E). That is - apart from 1909 when he was entered as James Skidmore for next-of-kin details in the hospital admission of Sarah Skidmore (also of North Aston). To my mind, he would have been her brother or, more likely, step-brother but he was described as being her brother-in-law (which, as said before in other threads, was not uncommonly used for step-brother). Any clarification would, indeed, be most welcome - particularly, as I call him Spiderman! All best wishes, Carole (in Devon) ********************** From: "Robin Price" <robin.price@yahoo.com> To: <oxfordshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 8:12 AM Subject: James WAITE, North Aston Carol - the [sic] was inserted by me to indicate that the prospectus said "J. Waite, jnr" rather than James WAITE, which was in the index. Kind regards..................Robin