Good morning everyone! I'm in Canada, so just reading all the wonderful responses to my inquiry. It will take me a little while to retrace my steps and to process the new information. You have all given me a great deal of food for thought, not to mention a lot more researching!
With all the searching I have done on the family, I can't believe I missed checking the GRO for the two later daughters who were born in Croydon, which would of course have given me the maiden name of Ingham! I made a rookie mistake of being too focused on the one family member. My apologies to everyone for that omission on my part.
To add a little more information - my search started with my Great-Grandmother Sarah Jane Roker. Before both of my parents passed away (1991 and 2010), I had asked my Dad to write down as much family history, on both sides of my family, as he could. This was when I learned that my GG's maiden name on my Mother's side was Roker.
ShaunJ - thanks for all your help and information. I agree that there seems to be too many similarities between the 'Inghams' in India and what I thought were the Rokers in India for this to not be correct. The thing that confuses me though is that UK Census records for 1871 and 1881 show the 'Roker' family, with head Thomas, wife Sarah and the children born in India. Do you think he changed his surname back to Roker on returning to the UK from India? If Thomas was in the army in India (as Thomas Ingham) why might he change his name back to Roker upon returning to the UK? Would he not have been entitled to an army pension, under the name of Ingham?
Can I ask where/how you were able to access the baptism records for Sarah and the other children?
I'm so thrilled to have more avenues to check out and thank you all for your help and guidance
