Despite Ms Strickson only being my 1st cousin 3 times removed I was intrigued as to whether there were 2 girls, one called Sarah Ann and one called Mary Ann. I have the birth certificate for Sarah Ann born 7 June 1858 in Pinchbeck West, parents William and Sarah Ann Strickson.
However, on the 1861 census there is a girl called Mary Ann Strickson living with her parents William and Sarah Ann and her brother William born 1859 (He died and another William was born in 1866).
On the 1871 census there is a Mary A aged 12 living with her parents William and Sarah A and 4 siblings (including the 2nd William).
In 1880 Mary Ann married a John Martin Bradford. I have their marriage cert and it is the correct one, father William a labourer.
The child's mother Sarah Ann registered the birth, so whether she wanted to call her first daughter after herself or whether the registrar muddled up the name of the baby with the name of the mother, or whether they decided having 2 Sarah Ann.s in the family wasn't sensible I don't know. What I do know is that there is no trace anywhere of a Sarah Ann Strickson born in 1858, apart from the birth cert I have.
As a last resort - and it would have been a lot quicker and certainly cheaper to do this first
I checked on the West Pinchbeck baptisms. There in black and white is the baptism of a Mary Ann Strickson on 20 June 1858, parents William and Sarah Ann.
I think the lesson learned - where the records are easily available - is to check out everything before
spending wasting money on certificates, especially when researching distant ancestors.