Hi Steve
Seen the Middlesex stuff, You have been lucky haven't you?
I too had noticed the Jesse Reade marriage in Staines and wondered if this had been a second marrige, but never got round to posing that question.
I also noted that the births of the suggested siblings Joseph 17, Richard 15, Jane 15 all said to be born in Brighton' never turned up in any Brighton registration, but had begun to think (albeit incorrectly) that these and your Mary Jane were children of the new wife who had subsequently taken their step father's surname.
I suppose it was a little remiss of you to not give the full details from the 1901 census a little earlier, but know from my own enthusiasm that sometimes I too fully believe I have passed some additional information on but had actually forgotten to do so.
From what I have seen from your Middlesex helpers, you have positively identified your Reed family who for some reason were either unsure or reluctant to give their place of origin to the census enumerator. Hopefully, their parents and earlier generations were a little bit more forthcoming with that sort of information to enable you to continue the search further back in time. If they do turn out to be travelling people which the father's occupation suggests, I don't envy you the task, for they certainly will be difficult to pin down to any particular parish.
Well done with the search so far, and good luck for getting further back into the past in the future.
Roy G
