Hi
The above girls appear in the 1871 census in West Auckland with their parents (mistranscribed on one site as Stratten)
George 44 Ag lab b Etherley Moor
Mary A 34 b not clear but might be St Helen
Sarah E 9 b as above
Catherine H 2 b West Auckland
It would appear that George and Mary Ann died within a month of each other in 1874 and entries for them in the probate calendar in 1876 show that administration of their effects was granted "under the usual limitations to Jane Ward (wife of John Ward, shoemaker) of New Elvet in the City of Durham the Aunt and Guardian of Sarah Shotton a minor and Catherine Hannah Shotton an infant the Daughters and only Next of Kin".
I cannot see what happened to Sarah and Catherine thereafter (There is one possibility for Catherine which has her in the Durham workhouse in the subsequent censuses although the place of birth is wrong - one census has her recorded as feeble minded).
Their aunt Jane Ward died in 1885. I have her will. She made bequests to her surviving siblings, Catherine Pattison, Hannah Applegarth, Elizabeth Cowens and William Shotton and to some of her nieces but there is no mention of Sarah or Catherine.
Any help in working out what happened to Sarah and Catherine would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
William
