thanks for the reassurance roy. i feel as though i am searching for a shadow. any ideas on where to look for any deaths for my missing john and edwin? they both seem to disappear between 1851-1861.
assuming john edwin was the son of john and elizabeth then i have a number of siblings to trace. i know that two of the sisters were still living with their father in 1881, both unmarried, and still living in ramsey. i think they were also on the 1901 census. must recheck.
there was also a brother james who i think was a chemist in ramsey.
as you can see i have quite a lot of digging to do but i still have this itch, which i cant scratch, about why john edwin bn 1853 does not appear on any census until 1871.
any ideas, greatly appreciated.
pat.