Right!

This is the story so far: I was brought up believing my great-granfather was from the Isle of Man. He was called Richard Robert Knowles (although we all thought he was Robert Richard).
He was a police constable in Liverpool. I found his marriage certificate to my great-grandmother Daisy Louisa Thompson (we all thought her name was Louise). They married in Liverpool 7th may 1912.
For a long time I believed these people were not the ones I was looking for (slightly wrong names...). The marriage certificate states they were married according to the Wesleyan Methodist rite
(again another mystery, my great-grandmother was definitely high church of England and my grandmother went to a church school) so I presumed Richard was a methodist.
This is the information on the certificate:

Richard Robert Knowles, 35 years, bachelor, police constable, 10 Credworth Street West Derby, father Robert Knowles Railway Waggon Inspector (there is a correction mark on the margin that I can't make out (H.W?)
Daisy Louisa Thompson, 30 years, spinster, typist, 37 Castor Street Everton, father George Henry Thompson (deceased) Gunsmith
Witnesses: Amy Lodge and Thas (Thomas?) Knowles (presumably his brother, who I knew was the witness at his wedding as I have a picture)

I checked the 1911 census for both the addresses and Richard was living with his family (indeed there is a brother Thomas too). As on the census all children are declared to have been born in Liverpool. I thought maybe they had been living on the IoM or the family was originally from there . However Robert (the father) was from Whiston (information found on the 1911 census).
So I hit a stone wall, although as I said mum is absolutely certain Richard was from the IoM. I checked previous censuses and the family seem to have been living in Liverpool since the 1881 census. I also thought the family might be living in the IoM and that Richard's mother had the children on mainland. However:

Robert married Mary Downes at St. Cleopas Toxteth Park - Liverpool in 1875 (have no idea if it is a methodist church nor could I find the children's christening records)

census 1881: same address
Knowles Robert-head-married-23-railway Porter; Whiston
Knowles Mary Ann-wife-23
Knowles Richard Robert- 4-Liverpool
Knowles Margaret A.-2-Liverpool
Knowles John Chas- 10 weeks-Liverpool

census 1901: same address
there are two other children: Henry (b. 1885) and Thomas H.V. (b. 1887)

census 1911: 10 Credworth Street
Knowles Robert-Head-married-53-Wagon Repairer-Whiston, Lancashire
Knowles Mary Ann-wife-married (35 years)-53-Liverpool
Knowles Robert-son-u/m-34-Police Constable-Liverpool
Knowles Thomas HV-son-u/m-23 Milk Carter-Liverpool

Quite depressed by this discovery, I turned my attention to the second address, that of my Daisy. On the 1911 census I found that the house was lived in by a Florence Beatrice Conde. I was curious as there was no mention of Daisy so I started following that lead and discovered that Florence was born in the IoM!!! Moreover she came from Peel and it struck me as a coincidence that there is a Wesleyan Methodist Church; Glenfaba, there. So I thought that maybe Florence knew Richard from the IoM and that's how he met Daisy or Daisy knew Florence through him. The point is, Daisy was living with her family in the 1901 census, why would she give Florence's address? They must have been good friends and Florence's husband being a steward (probably on the ships) she went and stayed with her.

marriage dec 1909 W Derby-Conde Charles Albert and Coole Florence Beatrice. Charles Albert born 1883 Liverpool.

The really funny thing is, Daisy had told everyone she was orphaned at quite a young age, having her family died in India and she shipped back and sent to a boarding school. So far I have found no evidence of this although my mother remembers the abundance of Indian furniture in her Gran's house. Her family, according to the censuses was living in Liverpool (although they could have gone to India in between censuses there is no record of them dying there).

I just feel there is something somewhere (a previous marriage, an adoption, a change of names...) that explains all this, without mentioning the upset it's caused in the family to find out that so far there is no connection either to the IoM or to India...so...were my great-grandparents telling their own children fibs? Apparently they were not the type.

So this is the saga. I would greatly appreciate any idea on how to go about all this...as I can accept that some stories have got mixed up but not all of them!

Sorry for the length of this post!

irene