Hi Grace
I have been digging around a bit to see what I can find on line.
Alfred's father (the grandfather of the boys you are looking for) born in 1823 was James Yates, a silk weaver (his father thomas a joiner) who married Margaret Guest in 1845.
The records showed 6 children from this marriage born in Leigh/Westleigh -
Anne (born 1845 in Leigh Union which was the workhouse I think?),
Elizabeth (born 1848),
Thomas (born 1850),
James (later a collier, born in 1857),
then Alfred born in 1859.
Margaret I think then died in 1861, she wasn't on the 1861 census, but I have ordered her death certificate to check the details and see what happened to her.
Alfred's father James married again, to Sarah Ann Brooks, and they had another 7 children also in Leigh: Henry, Ellen, Peter, Elizabeth, Willie, Charlie and Joseph the last one in 1889. Sarah Ann was a widower by the census in 1891. Sarah Ann might have died in 1918 aged 77.
Sadly so far I haven't been able to trace forward any of these families on Ancestry, but other more experienced researchers may have other sources they can use. There was a possible death record for Alfred's wife Mary Alice (nee Ray, born 1858) in 1947 aged 88.
After Alfred's mother died, he lived with his brother Richard and wife Catherine Hyde at 18 Thomas St. Richard had twins Margaret and Ellen, Elizabeth, Alice, Annie and one other I haven't located yet.
Maybe any more details anyone could add about say Mary Alice who lived to an impressive 88 it appears, or step mother Sarah Ann, might lead us to some branches of the family where there are living relatives. Any ideas or help for Grace would be fab!! thank you in advance.
