I have finally received the marriage certificate re the marriage of Elizabeth Sarah Edwards and Edward Sullivan and it shows that this was a different Elizabeth to the one I am interested in.  The father of the bride is named as John Edwards, not George Hutchings, so I have not discovered a long line of lost rellies.

This raises an interesting question – do I inform the people who have this information on their family tree in Ancestry.com?  It seems a bit arrogant of me to contact them and say “hello, you are wrong”,  especially as their records being wrong does not automatically make mine right – so it’s proof I’m after.

First of all, I tried to find a record of the marriage between my  Elizabeth and Henry Simmons  – no can do!  If they did get married (and they are shown in the 1881 census as married) then I should be able to find a record of it, but no luck so far.

I then tried to find out where Henry was in the 1891 census  (Elizabeth died in 1890, I have the death certificate for that) but he seems to have disappeared.  I did find 2 children, living with various relatives, whom later checks in parish records showed to be the offspring of Henry & Elizabeth Simmons – so that looks hopeful.  If I can get the birth certifiicate of one of them it may show the mother’s maiden name – and if that is Elizabeth Sarah Hutchings, then I’ll know I’m on track.

So, things to do:-

1. keep looking for marriage certificate – it may be that in fact they did not marry (Elizabeth’s parents did not marry but were shown as such in various censuses).

2. find out more about Henry.  Even his birthdate and place are not certain and his whereabouts after Elizabeth’s death needs to be looked at – I did find 2 possibilities, one a Henry Simmons living as a lodger in Maidstone and noted as being single (see note 1) and the other a Henry Simmons before the Maidstone Magistrate for petty larceny.

3. Follow up the children – I have sent away for the birth certificate of one of them, so fingers crossed that it will reveal what I want to see.

4. Decide, if all this eventually proves my records correct, whether to pass the information on.