Thank you for the replies. I am afraid that the information I have is very sketchy, hence the problems I am having! My mother-in-laws father is listed as Alfred Carine aged 40 on the marriage certificate in November of 1915, when his father is listed as John Carine (deceased).Both were listed as able seamen merchant service. However my mother in laws birth certificate lists her father's names as John Alfred. She was also always told by her mother that her father was twenty years older than her, not the fifteen on the marriage cetificate.

The only other possible lead I have is that he dad was listed as living at 6 Mercer Court in Liverpool on the marriage certificate. On the 1901 census there is an Alfred Carrin living at the same address (lodgings) aged 32, seaman from the Isle of Man; unfortunately no detail. This would fit with Alfred (or JOhn!) being the twenty years older than the Mum but may just be a red herring. I know that there are a lot of Carine's on the Isle of Man census so I fear that without any more information it may prove to be a difficult task. Unfortunately he deserted the family in the 1930's so no other information is available. thanks for your interest and help. I will let you know if I unearth any more information. Regards Diane