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Hi, thanks for letting me know  !

yes that does seem plausible - it might also explain why he put Manchester as his place of birth.

thank you!

Hello,
        I am trying to track back John's family...here is what I know:

According to censuses between 1861 and 1881, he was born sometime between 1834 and 1836 (his listed ages were 26, 35, and 46, which should strictly mean he must have been born in early April 1835!).

He always put his place of birth as 'Manchester', despite living in Newtown, Worsley for much of that time, most of his children being born there as well as his first wife...and his second wife being born in nearby Outwood/Ringley...perhaps Manchester was a fair description or maybe he didn't know a specific place of birth.

He first married a Hannah Royle in 1855 (she was baptised in 1831, and commonly known as Ann). They had at least four children: William, Elizabeth Jane, Fanny, and Edmund.

He then married a Mary Lindley in 1867 (baptised 1836), and they also had at least four children: Thomas, Joseph, John, and Alice.

On both marriage records, John's father was listed as a William Davies - in 1855, he was recorded as a Cordwainer, in 1867 as a Labourer. There was no indication that he died by that time, like some marriage records do, but he wasn't marked down as a witness. There's a story in the family that John's parents died in a cholera epidemic. The historic epidemic of that time was in 1832, which contradicts John's supposed time of birth. I think that considering his first wife was consistently recorded as being several years older than John, it is possibly unlikely to be so far out.

I've tried to definitively find him on the 1841 and 1851 censuses, but have had no luck yet. I've also looked for clues in naming patterns...it seems that he named his first son after his father, his second son after his first wife's father (although there was a 4 to 5 year gap between the birth of his first two daughters), but waited until at least his fifth son to name one after himself. Also, as far as I can tell, none of his first wife's sisters were named Elizabeth, Jane, or Fanny/Frances, which perhaps goes against convention.

If someone could find traces of a family of cordwainer Davieses with such names, that would be ideal! Any help appreciated!

Could someone kindly look-up the marriage details of a Richard Pritchard to an Eliza Phillips at All Saints, Gresford, Denbighshire 1848? They were somewhat inconsistent in their ages and their places of birth but this seems like the likely marriage for my ancestors (Richard may have been about 18 to 20, while Eliza may have around 31-33 years old). Thank you!