Can anyone please help me identify Horsham (or West Sussex) records that cover the period 1861-1876 and that might help me find out what happened to Lambert Allen? Lambert Allen was born in 1844 in Horsham, the youngest son of Alfred Allen and Mary Alberry. In my search to find out what happened to Lambert after 1861, I have learned quite a bit about both sides of his family, mainly from publications from Horsham Museum last year. Lambert's father Alfred was in court more than once, and in 1857 Alfred and his brother Dennett fled to America to avoid trial for defrauding the government of a considerable amount of excise duty on the malt they produced. The events called quite a stir at the time and the pair were referred to as the 'Notorious Allen Brothers' according to one account. Lambert, aged 16 at the time, may have gone with them, or may have stayed at home with his grandmother, but according to the 1861 Census both Alfred and Lambert were at home in Sussex with Lambert's elder sister Mary Matilda. That is the last definite location I have for Lambert, though I know he was still alive in 1866 because he is mentioned as a beneficiary of his father's will, though his whereabouts at that time was not recorded. Trade and Post Office directories for 1866, 1867, 1874, 1878 and 1882 do not make any mention of him, though his elder brother Alfred Alberry Allen is mentioned and so is his uncle Dennett, obviously also returned from America. Lambert's mother, Mary Alberry was the aunt of the local historian, William Alberry, who wrote several local history books and played a part in the foundation of the Horsham Museum. I know that the Museum holds a lot of papers that belonged to him and it is my intention, at my next visit to search some of the references I found in the indices to members of Lambert's family. However, since I couldn't find a reference to Lambert himself, I'm not expecting to find much about what happened to him. As you can imagine there are plenty of sources relating to these famous and infamous members of Lambert's family, and it would be easy to get distracted, but at this point in time what I really need to find are sources that could contain references to Lambert between 1861 and 1876 when he was 17-32 years old. I have good reason to believe that Lambert was my great great grandfather George Lambert Allen, who was living in Hartlepool by the time his daughter Susan was born in 1876, but I as yet I have not been able to find definite proof that they are one and the same. Searches have failed to turn up a marriage certificate that would give me the name of George Lambert Allen's father, and I suspect that George never married Susan's mother, Mary O'Brien, as I have an earlier marriage certificate for her to John Aldridge. They had a daughter, Eliza, and both John and Eliza are alive and well on the 1881 and 1891 census! I am hoping that by trying to fill in the missing years when Lambert disappears and George Lambert first appears, I can prove or disprove the connection between them, but not being local to Horsham myself, I don't really know what sources there might be, apart from trade directories that might help. - What were the schools in the area that he might have gone to? - Did he join up? What were the local regiments? - Were there any local schemes in the 1860's and 1870's that might have encouraged a farmer's son from Sussex to move to Hartlepool? - What local papers were there that might have been interested in the activities of the son of one of the 'Notorious Allen Brothers'? If you can tell me of any local records that might help me close the gap between 1861 and 1876, or already know what happened to Lambert Allen, I would be very grateful for your time in pointing me in the right direction. Thank you for your help, Sharon