What I was thinking was, that it might be easier to be sure who is connected if you start from the present and work back. You often see it recommended on this board that you start with (your own birth certificate and) your parents marriage certificate which gives details of their parents so that you can get THEIR birth certificates etc and so on. These not only give you dates & ages, but addresses and occupations which help you recognise them in the censuses. Like I say, I'm no expert, and maybe you've already done that anyway, but I have made the mistake of jumping back too far too soon myself and eventually discovered that patient small steps paid off in the end.