The not knowing can be the fun part.

[coombs]

Often we meet brickwalls with chagrin and want them to be tumbled but there are times when the mystery of trying to find a marriage of the parents of an ancestor is the chase.

For instance, my ancestor was William Abel who had his first son Samuel in 1744 in Oxfordshire. I descend from Elizabeth Abel born 1754. Their mother was Martha Abel. I cannot for the life of me find a marriage of a William Abel to a Martha. Tried Oxon marriage Index, and lots of other databases. Maybe they married in another county, they never really married or there was a gap in the register of the parish they married in. That can be the fun part, wondering what the maiden name was of Martha Abel.

Same for George Coombs and Sarah. Sarah died in Feb 1851 in Marylebone, London. In 1841 she said she was not born in county of residence which was Middlesex. I have a very likely baptism for George Coombs. He died in 1831 aged 41. Sarah later took the surname Bradford and her banns were read in 1834 in Marylebone to James Bradford. Sarah was a widow. James and Sarah Bradford witnessed the wedding of Sarah's eldest son Matthew George Coombs in 1835. Sarah died just before the 1851 census so I have no obvious evidence of her county of origin. I have not found a marriage of George Coombs to Sarah yet apart from an 1810 marriage in Axminster, Devon. The original says she was a widow. My Sarah had her last son in 1828 and was 57 in 1848 when she was admitted to the workhouse and died in Feb 1851 aged 60. So born c1790/1791. She may have been a year or 2 older or was a very young widow when she married George. I think the mystery of Sarah's birthplace, maiden name and parents is part of the fun though.