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Not something that would be earth shattering but one of those things that natters at you!

My great aunt Sarah Elizabeth (also known as Sarah Eliza) Crackles was married on 11 October 1885 in Leeds parish church to James Mc Mellor. He was 27 and a "striker" at Armley (I'm presuming that's in the foundry) and she gave her age as 22. I think this is a bit of a dodgy marriage, probably her parents didn't approve as in reality she was only about 18 and had been living in Barnsley working as a domestic servant - I reckon she'd gone out of the area and falsified her age to be able to marry him. It didn't seem to last long anyway as on the 1891 census she's reverted to her maiden name of Crackles and is working as a servant in the Railway Hotel Dewsbury (giving her age on the census return as 24!) By the time of the next census she's acquired a husband and children, now calling herself Mrs Bamforth and that's how she lives out her days - marrying Walter Bamforth in 1926 when she was 59, calling herself a spinster presumably thinking husband number one had died by then (he hadn't!)

It's the rogue Mc Mellor I'm curious about!! I'm pretty sure that he's actually James Higgins (Leeds 1861 census) Born around 1858 in Leeds. His mother Margaret's maiden name was McMullen which I think he later bases a false name on! In 1871 he's James Higgins, no sign of him in 1881,Marries in 1885 as Mc Mellor, on the 1891 census he's gone back to Higgins but in 1901 and 1911 is in Armley and back to  James Mc Mellor, saying he's married but of course no sign of a wife!

Would love to know where he was and what he was calling himself in 1881 just to get the complete picture but no luck. He's led me a merry dance!! Would the marriage under a false name have not been legal or was Sara Eliza a bigamist when she married Walter? I bet someone tried to warn her off him but would she listen?!!!

A neighbour down the lane had a visit out of the blue today from two elderly ladies researching their family history. We're in North Yorkshire and one of the ladies was from Devon and the other from Tennessee. They had a diary from 1911 written by a 17 year old ancester who had been disgruntled at leaving a "lively" town to come and live in a "dreary, desolate old farmhouse"! They also had photographs of the family standing in the doorway. It was fascinating for the neighbour to see the pictures and read some of the diary and I think must have been great for the visitors too as I suspect that neither the look of the house nor the area have changed significantly in the last 100 years.

Has anyone else experienced a blast from the past like that?

What does "belonging" mean to you - do you think that you just get those feelings about where you were born and brought up?

I lived at one place until I was married at 24 and have lived in our present house for coming up to 27 years, about 20 miles away from where I was born. I just realised today that I don't feel as if I really belong here even after all this time! My ancesters did leave their villages and move to make new lives so it can't be in my DNA to feel this way!

This is a long shot I'm afraid, there's not an awful lot to go in in the photo but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on where it might be? This came from my Grandmother's photo album and although it's been printed as a postcard I thought it could perhaps be a relative seeing as it was in amongst family photos. There's nothing at all on the back to indicate where it was printed but the family lived around Widnes and Runcorn.

You can just make out the name "Pierce's Creamery" and the sign beyond is "Waterhouse and sons, furniture removers" - does that mean anything to anyone?

The poor horse looks like it needed a good meal! 

A long shot but I wonder if anyone has access to birth records and would be willing to look for me please?

My grandparents came from Lithuania and were married on 20th October 1907 at the RC church at Craigneuk in the parish of Dalziel. Their names were Pietas (Peter) and Ona (Ann) Wiewiasis - they seem to have used different spellings of the surname over the years but this is how it appears on the marriage certificate.

The children were all born at Craigneuk, my mum was the youngest and was told that she was the 13th (!!) but not all the children survived so there are brothers and sisters that she had that she never knew. It would be nice to have some names and dates to be able to tell her. I suspect that the names may appear with Lithuanian spellings - mum (*) was born on October 4th 1926 (her surname appears as Wiewiasuite on her birth certificate although her parent's surname is as their marriage certificate!) Anything that anyone could tell me would be appreciated. We know of brothers (*) and sisters (*)

Sorry, this one is a real stinker isn't it?!!

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