Hi, Frances and Sue,

Many thanks for your help. As far as I understand the situation, it seems that we are all happy that Caleb Corkhill of 1863 was the son of Peter Corkill and Margt Ann Quirk.

I looked up the 1871 census and got a family group of ten all listed as COCKELL, with Peter 48, margaret 47 and eight youngsters, inc 9 yo Caleb. The family xeem to have been into biblical names in a big way with Hannah, John, Joshua, Peter, Thomas, Evangeline and Moses, as well as Caleb himself.

The difference seems to have arisen with the previous generation, but not with Peter of 1823 or his wife.

I looked up the 1881 census when the family were living at 6 Strand St, and 54 yo Peter is shown as a Shoemaker as we would expect, whilst Caleb is training as a shoemaker's apprentice.

Backtracking 54 yrs from 1881 we get an 1827 DoB and 1828 for Margt Ann Corkill, so the DOBs differ by some five years.

The children also present problems. as they are
Eva 23 so born c1858
Caleb 19 so born c1862
John 14 so born c1867

John and Caleb only vary by about a year but Eva is presumably Evangeline, and in 1871 she was 16, so she has advancedf by 7 years whilst her parents have advanced by 7 years as well, between 1871 and 1881 ! At least the figure is at least consistent !!

The interesting entry is Jane Sheard, Mother in law, Female 81 born in Co Down, a widow to a soldier. Now it is a long shot, but is there any chance that this lady is related to Tom Sheard the rider and AM Sheard of the IMR ?

Also it raises a second problem, if Jane Sheard is the Mother in Law to the head of the house which is Peter Corkill, she is presumably Margt Ann Corkill's mother, so where does that get us ????

Two options come to mind. Was Margaret Ann Corkill/als Quirk a widow when she married Peter Corkill, but if she was born in 1824, and m in 1842 that seems unlikely to say the least.

Alternatively, Did Margaret Ann Quirk's mother remarry when her husband died becoming Jane Sheard ? This seems more likely.

That is the situation so far.

best wishes and thanks for your help.

Robert