Judy, Many thanks for your kind assistance. I must say William Campbell is proving very elusive. My research began with the 1881 census for Kilmarnock, where William gave his birthplace as Cramond, 1831. The parish register for Cramond gave brief details of a marriage on the 4th December 1830, between Daniel Campbell and Helen Clephane. Unfortunately, I could find no sign of William's birth being registered after that date. Of course there could be many reasons for this omission, including the possibility that they left Cramond soon after William's birth. I also had a look at the 1841 census for Cramond and found that there were no Campbells listed at all by that time. I then discovered that a Daniel Campbell and Helen Cleophane had their son, William Campbell, christened at Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh, in 1836. Assuming that the date William gave for his birth is correct, he would have been 5yrs old in 1836 and 20 yrs old in 1851. Helen the widow looks a possibility, aged 50 with 4 children. William could have left home by then, but I must confess I am running out of ideas. Steve