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Help me find my great grandmothe­r’s birth record bit.ly/2xVpmsZ I am trying to find a birth record for my great grandmothe­r, Alice May Brown, born 2 May 1899.

Alice’s family came from Hackney and her father, William Henry Brown, was a French polisher. I can trace her from 1901 onwards, but I’m unable to find anything earlier.

Some family members say that Alice’s mother’s maiden name was Ram, while others say it was Tewson/Tuson/Toussaint. I have managed to find her siblings’ birth records, but not hers. Liamcornes­1983 Cambridge alumni record mistake? bit.ly/2JlNnyH According to his Cambridge alumni record, my 5x great grandfathe­r Marmaduke Ward enrolled at St John’s College in 1729, aged 18. He was described as having been born in Chesterfie­ld and the son of Joseph, a gentleman of Derbyshire.

The only UK record I can find for a Marmaduke Ward born within five years of 1711 is a baptism in Killamarsh (eight miles from Chesterfie­ld) on 23 October 1710. This is all perfect, except that the child’s father’s name is George. Checking through other Killamarsh parish registers, I have not been able to find any Joseph Wards.

After Cambridge, Marmaduke moved to Norfolk and named his firstborn son George. Of his seven children, only his younger son Marmaduke married. Marmaduke junior named his firstborn son George as well.

How likely is it that a Cambridge clerk just got the name of Marmaduke’s father wrong? lilys 19th-century inheritanc­e bit.ly/2LBEI8j I have a woman in my family tree who lived in London with her husband until they separated around 1813. She then moved to Birmingham, writing a will a few years later.

When her husband died in 1834, the woman received some money and bought three houses, but did not change her will to include them. She then died in 1843.

I know that the family did not benefit from any sale of the houses and they did not take over ownership.

My question is, if the houses were not mentioned in her will, then what would have happened to them after she died? richardrcj­1981 Help with photo clues bit.ly/2sFIWVe This photograph, which I believe to be an ambrotype, measures 4cm x 5.5cm and is set within a small leather case. At a very rough guess I have dated it to c1858.

But what interests me most is the white cloth tied around the subject’s waist and the items he is posed with. In front of him there appears to be a pot, and to the right of the pot and in his left hand (the image is reversed) are a couple of cylindrica­l objects. I’m not sure if it is a pestle and mortar.

This leads me to wonder if the chap was a tallow chandler. Does anyone else have any ideas? Kevin Standage

 ??  ?? Kevin would love to know this sitter’s profession
Kevin would love to know this sitter’s profession
 ??  ??

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