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  Thanks, all of you so much for all the feed-back.it is just so nice sometimes to hear any ideas.
    As far as Nicholas being from other than England:
 I thought maybe if someone who didn't understand, was giving the details for the census, and heard he came from 'Great Britain',- well, they may have mistakenly said England...

   About the Cameron County not bordering Beaver Co- a short (weeks ago) while ,
  ...that man from wesrtern PA had sent me a site that had all the addresses/tel #'s of all PA's courthouses. 
   My plan is to start with Beaver again (mabe they missed something), and call and write to all the bordering ourthouses, (but including Cameron CO, as it seems to have had a lot of activity those years) and just seek out any and all documents I can get on any of my mystery people.
   I just haven't started working on it yet-a few other things came up in my life that interrupted my genealogy search-you know, appt's, grandchildren, shopping, etc...hahaha!

    Also like I said, that History center is worth a try too.  The list of offices and what records they have was sent to me in 2005, for Beaver County, and there is also a Prothonotary on that list.  But if I remember correctly, I still had to go thru her at the Register of wills office, and she would help me or direct me further.
   I am not going to give up, that is probably all I know for sure.
  Thanks for the advice about how difficult it might be to nail down Hannah in Ireland, as well.  it's best to realize that even if I find her entry port, and emigration port, the search still might not get any easier.
   I have also tried to look into the 'inlaw' surnames, as they may have our family surnames in their tree. 
  I'm waiting  to hear from my cousin in PA, who is going to give it another shot and see if our one last Aunt can remember anything else-bless her heart, she's lost all her 5 sisters (including mine and my cousin's mothers), and she's still letting us bug her about the past.
  again, thanks----
 
   

  Nicholas Banfield's wife- Annie C.
 
 states her name as Hannah in the 1900, (I think), US census, when she's remarried in abt. 1897 to Albert G. McClure....

   When I got the Delayed Birth Certificate for her youngest son, Alexander Boyd b.1888, dated 1942 (I believe I am remembering this correctly)...Hannah aka Annie C.  writes: 'mother's maiden name-Hannah Boyd Courtney'    Birthplace Ballymoney Ireland.

  I suspect Hannah's own mother's maiden name was Boyd.
  Was that the name you thought of Scotland with?  The Boyd part?

   But I've been trying to get leads on her too, after her arrival in US 1970-she's just as much of a dilemma as Nicholas!!!!!!!!!

  I'm in a tough spot with these two!

No, I don't know that he told his age correctly, so he could have been the "barnfield- coaldigger' from Somerset Co.

  The only place i am sure he lived was Freedom, Beaver Co, PA., from the 1880 census.
 Someone else could have put his age down wrong, even his wife.

  I've tried to get a death cert on him, and a marriage on him and Hannah(Annie), but to no avail. 
  Pa is just the hardest place to get paper from.
   I did get their youngest child's Delayed Birth Certificate', which had Nicholas' wife's maiden full name on it, but said he was deceased.

   She states she had 8 children, but I have only found 4-luckily one being my GGrandmother.
   PA could not give me birth records on any of them, as PA did not keep those records at the time.
    No death records either.  His wife remarried by 1896/7-no divorce or death for Nicholas can I find.
  I have a marriage certificate for Nicholas' daughter, 1896, but the 'parents' names are just written in by clerk as 'Nicholas and Hannah Banfield'.
  Children's names I know are
  Henry T
  Mary E.
  Jane Hannah (Jennie)
  Alexander Boyd
   

  Wow, thanks for the replies.  But do you see my dilemma?
    
    One of his children say 'Great Britain', so maybe his birthplace wasn't England.

    maybe he just assumed the name Nicholas, if he didn't like his given name.
  
   i don't know where to go from here.

  His occupation was 'Salesman', if I remember right-1880 census
  
 I was writing another reply , and i had a sudden feline visitor jump half into my lap/half on the keyboard, and I lost it....
    So if you see a similar reply somewhere, like this one from me...that's the one i lost.
  

   
   I am very new to Rootschat, and just a 'little' better than a beginner at searching-
     I know I can learn a lot, just from reading other people's advice, problems, and just following other people's searches..

   so I've just been 'hitting the boards' and just reading and reading...
 
Your original  post intrigued me as it had my favorite question, 'Where do I start?'.
 
I started at your beginning and followed it all the way to the free BMD and the coffee...I was glued to it and almost lol with you, as I read-...
.....even tho this is like 5 years later!!

   I certainly have been that route, and do congratulate you for not giving up.
  I loved the whole story.  Tell me, have you seen the post about 'how you know if you are addicted to genealogy' ? 

   lol  that's another posting I enjoyed very much tonight.   
   Thanks for sharing your story.  You give me encouragement that I will find my Mystery Man....Unknown 'Bangor'-GGGrandfather.
     And I know pretty much nuthin about him except he fathered children- well, at least the mom says he did...lol.
                                           Numan