Thomas Dowsett Brider was born Lambeth 1845, the son of Thomas and Mary Ann nee Dowsett. He is with his parents on the 1851 census but then vanishes until he and his wife Emma appear in York with the registration of his first child, Rebecca Annie, in 1882; 6 subsequent children were registered in Newcastle and Gateshead, the first 3 being registered as Bryder. The GRO indexes variously record Emma's maiden name as MacDowall, McDonall, McDougal, McDonald and McDool; Emma's late daughter in-law believed the correct version of the name to have been McDowall and this is confirmed by her grandsons. So far I have been completely unable to trace the marriage of Thomas and Emma which possibly took place in Ireland - one of the grandsons was told that his grandfather had come from that country and was a Roman Catholic so possibly he'd lived there for a time. Please can anyone assist me with locating a marriage record.
