If anyone can help with this brick wall, I will be delighted.
I have John Harrison baptised in 1776 in Yardley, Worcs., married to an Elizabeth (maiden name unknown), who are my direct ancestors.
In 1841 they are in Saltley, Aston (Birmingham):
John , 65, Ag. Lab, b. out of county.
Elizabeth, 60, b. ?Scotland. **
Son Thomas. 22
Married daughter Margaret Clark, 25
Son in law John Clark, 24
Grandson Jeptha
Granddaughter Elizabeth
** Elizabeth's place of birth is written as either S or I (which could be Scotland or Ireland). I think it is an S, comparing it with other writing on the page and in view of the following information.
Elizabeth dies in 1847.
In 1851 I think that I have John, still living in Saltley. He is the father of the head of the household, John Harrison aged 47, born around 1803 in Scotland, married to a Sarah with several children.
I can't find the marriage of John senior to Elizabeth. I can't find any John Harrison born in Scotland at the right time with father John. Also, there is a huge gap between his birth and the birth of Margaret in Birmingham in 1814. And why should an Ag Lab from Yardley go to Scotland? I have been tossing around all sorts of solutions for a very long time and the only logical one which I can come up with is that John junior was Elizabeth's son, either from a previous marriage or illegitimate, born in Scotland. They some time afterwards moved south to England, Elizabeth met John senior and her son took the Harrison surname.
My real aim is to find out Elizabeth's surname since she is my 5 x great grandmother, but the whole tale has sparked my interest. I think that it's an impossible task to trace her and the mysterious John junior, but if anyone has any ideas, I would be very grateful indeed.
Many thanks
Bev