Hi Jean,

I have found when comparing the IGI with the parish register that the burials are there, so they aren't ficticious. The problem is that someone has made an assumption that the burial applies to a person in a particular baptism, which may be wrong. Sometimes it would be impossible for the entry to be correct. If there are no wills or decrees giving the children's names the only way of finding out pre-censuses would be to look at the family in the parish register to see whether there were any identifying details given, such as a place name, at the parents' marriage and/or children's bapts and burials. And also to look carefully at other families of the same surname, to put these into family groups in the particular parish.

In this case they can be checked in censuses, unless they emigrated between 1851 and 1861. - More Canadian details needed from Penny. Did he emigrate alone, or with parents? When? Are they in Canadian censuses? What were their ages?

BL's census indexes have:
1851:
COSTAIN John 2 Arb 2526 222 30
COSTAIN John 1 Cas 2526 174 116
COSTAIN John 32 Cas 2526 174 116
COSTAIN Ann 28 Cas 2526 174 116
1861:
COSTAIN John 12 Arb 4409 20 9

Did Anne go to Canada? Or is this her burial:
COSTEAN, Anne 30 Arb 1 Aug 1853

Sue