Hi all Yes it's that elusive Stainsby/Wright family again! Having found all my 'missing' children ( thanks to SFHG members!) and despite name changes etc I have followed their journey from 1881 onwards. I then decided to trace their maternal line - the formidable Ruth! She would be much easier to trace than her husband I thought in my naivety! In 1971 22year old Joseph Stainsby m 21 year old Ruth Barnett in Darlington, Durham. Her father Robert Barnett is recorded as a labourer. Ruth d in 1940 aged 90 and is buried in Seaford, Sussex, so far so good I thought. I sent off for her birth cert to confirm her details because in the 1851C her mother is down as Ann and in the 1861C Frances is recorded (if in fact it is the same family!). You have guessed it! The GRO refunded my money because there was no trace of her with the info I supplied! If anyone has any ideas where I should look now for info on Ruth and her family I would be very grateful! As always, many thanks for your help! Kind regards Marian

I think that a little more and detailed information is needed to make progress with your problem. For example: 1 They married in 1971 - was that a typo for 1871 perhaps? Or was it some other date? Where did the marriage take place? 2 Ruth died in 1940 aged 90. I've just checked the GRO indexes for all four quarters of 1940 and I can't see any entry for a Ruth STAINSBY. On what date did she die and where exactly did she die? Do you have documentary evidence for her death, or is it a family recollection? 3 She is buried in Seaford, Sussex. Is that in the churchyard of the parish church, or in a civil cemetery? Are any of her family buried with her? If so, whom? 4 When & where did her husband die? Where is her husband buried? 5 Assuming that Ruth STAINSBY nee BARNETT was born in 1850 and died in 1940, have you identified her on every Census up to and including 1911 and is her age on each one consistent with a birth in 1850. Where does she say she was born and is that consistently stated on all those census returns? Best wishes, Marion Woolgar Bognor Regis, West Sussex SFHG Member No: 3323