Thanks All for your help with this mystery! It would appear that part of the mystery may be solved, but as so often with genealogical investigations, other cans of worms are being opened!! Here are the transcripts of the marriage record and birth registration (not baptismal record, as I said before) sent to me by Ellen Stanton: Marriage Certificate Entry #31 (it is not entirely clear to me what register this is… Anglican perhaps?) Husband: Alfred EDWARDS, 24, Bachelor, Saddler, Fort Beaufort Wife: Nancy Elizabeth COOKS, 27, Spinster Date: 10 Apr 1883 Location: The House, Adelaide By: P. Davidson Witnesses: James EDWARDS and Mary Ann COOKS Form of Information of a Birth: Name: None Entered Sex: Female Date of Birth: 27 Mar 1895 Place of Birth: High Street, Grahamstown (?) Father: Alfred EDWARDS, Saddler, 37, England (place of birth) Mother: Annie Elizabeth EDWARDS, formerly COOKS, Dressmaker, 30, Cape Colony Married: 11 Apr 1883 Previous Issue: 2 sons and 2 daughters Abode: Adelaide So, from this we now know that Alfred EDWARDS was NOT a descendent of the 1820 Settler EDWARDS family, but was born in England! End of that mystery! However, it would appear that the marriage record and the birth record don't really match up. Firstly, the marriage certificate has the bride's name as Nancy Elizabeth COOKS, not Annie (or Anna), which is how the mother of all the children (William Percy b. 1884, Alice Jane b. 1885, Cecil James b. 1886, Ivy May b. 1888, and Daughter 3 b. 1895) Secondly, on the marriage certificate, HE is 24 and SHE is 27, and then in the birth record 12 years later, HE is 37 and SHE is 30. Not only is the maths wrong, but Annie is younger than Alfred, but Nancy is older than Alfred! Could Nancy have died, and then Alfred went on to marry Nancy's younger sister, Annie? Well the argument against that would be that the date of marriage on the birth record is one day different to the date of marriage on the marriage certificate! It's possible that Nancy was her real name, but she preferred to be called Annie (or Anna), although on an official form like a birth record, I'd have thought the mother's real name would need to be entered, even if the baptismal records in the parishes used her nickname (unless, of course, she changed her name officially from Nancy to Annie!) However, this doesn't get around the fact that their ages don't match up between the marriage certificate and the birth record. To add to all this, the death record of Annie Elizabeth EDWARDS (née COOK) has her age as 52 years in 1913. That also doesn't match the above ages, for Annie or Nancy! <Sigh> I feel like we've found some jigsaw pieces that are a very, very close fit, but not quite right, but we're trying to force them in nevertheless!!! Regards Mike Wright www.albany1820.com From: Mike Wright [mailto:mike@albany1820.com] Sent: 31 May 2015 07:35 To: 'south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com'; 'south-africa-immigrants-british@rootsweb.com' Subject: RE: Cecil James EDWARDS The phenomenon who is Ellen Stanton has sent me the birth record of the child born in 1895 AND the marriage record of Alfred EDWARDS and Annie Elizabeth COOK!!  Alfred was 24 on 10 Apr 1883, which puts his dob in 1858/9, so we can now rule out Alfred Stephen EDWARDS (b. 1870).  Interestingly, though, Annie is recorded as being 27, which puts her dob in 1855/6, about 5 years before the date indicated by her civil death notice. Regards Mike Wright www.albany1820.com From: Mike Wright [mailto:mike@albany1820.com] Sent: 30 May 2015 22:27 To: 'south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com'; 'south-africa-immigrants-british@rootsweb.com' Subject: RE: Cecil James EDWARDS I believe I may have discovered Alfred’s wife’s death notice.  Details are: Name: Annie Elizabeth EDWARDS (born COOK) Abode: Adelaide Age: 52 years (born in the Cape Province) Marital Status: Divorced Occupation: Maternity Nurse Date of Death: 17 Jun 1913 Place of Death: Sterkstroom Intended Place of Burial: Adelaide Cause of Death: Heart Failure Signed by: C.J. Edwards (son of the deceased) C.J. Edwards must surely be “my” Cecil James EDWARDS, and most of the other details tie in well.  Her age at death would make her dob around 1861, so if Alfred Stephen EDWARDS (b. 6 Mar 1870) was her husband, she would have been about 25 years old to his 16 years old when Cecil James was born!!  Tracking back 9 months from Cecil’s date of birth (19 Dec 1886) would place his conception in about March 1870, so just after Alfred turned sweet sixteen, IF he was indeed the father! Does any of this ring any more bells with anyone?  COOK researchers, for example? There appears to have been another child born to Alfred and Annie Elizabeth, baptised in 1895, as per Ellen Stanton’s listing (father, mother, date of child’s baptism): LDS Microfilm #1926277 Birth Certificates: 1895 Item 3: Albany #143 Alfred EDWARDS, Annie Elizabeth COOKS?, 3/27/1895 Regards Mike Wright www.albany1820.com From: Mike Wright [mailto:mike@albany1820.com] Sent: 30 May 2015 09:11 To: 'south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com'; 'south-africa-immigrants-british@rootsweb.com' Subject: Cecil James EDWARDS Hi All Does anyone have any info on if and how the father of Cecil James EDWARDS fits into any of the known EDWARDS lines?  Here are the relevant transcriptions: Fort Beaufort Methodist Baptisms Entry #700 Child: Cecil James EDWARDS Parents: Alfred and Anna Elizabeth of Adelaide Born: 19 Dec 1886 Baptized: 12 Jan 1888 Adelaide Anglican (Christ Church) Marriages Entry #159 Husband: Cecil James EDWARDS, 25, Bachelor, Baker, Adelaide Wife: Annie Catherine ERASMUS, 20, Spinster, Adelaide Date: 26 Nov 1912 After Banns Parents Consent Witnesses: C L Sumner, D E Erasmus, Osmond Cookson So, any info on Alfred (possibly also referred to as Alfie) EDWARDS and/or his wife, Anna Elizabeth, will be greatly appreciated. By the way, my wife’s uncle, who is a grandson of Cecil James EDWARDS, tells me that Cecil insisted he was born in Dordrecht.  This could be true, but he was definitely baptised in Fort Beaufort, and his parents were from Adelaide.  Perhaps Anna Elizabeth’s parents lived in or near Dordrecht, and she went “home” for the birth? Regards Mike Wright www.albany1820.com