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Thank you very much for recent help about registrations of births etc! I would be most grateful if you would help me avoid a possible serious error in my non-fiction prose book, Village... & if you could throw expert light on one marriage certificate.

First query... From 1848 to 1875, Dr Robert Eminson, a doctor based in the Lincolnshire village of Scotter, was the Registrar who recorded deaths & births of inhabitants I’ve researched in my own village, 8 miles away. I had assumed that all villagers would have to travel to Scotter to register births etc. From notes on the National Archives website, I now wonder if – before a change in the law in the 1870s? – the Registrar himself in fact travelled from Scotter to other villages, & collected information?

If so, I wonder how the death of one child, George Blow (certified, from typhoid) was registered by Dr Eminson on the same day the child died in 1856? (The details appeared on a certificate I recently posted on Rootschat.) The child’s mother, Mary Ann Blow, was co-habiting with a farm labourer. She would have had to walk 8 miles, or perhaps hire a cart, to reach Scotter. It is not obvious to me how else she could inform Dr Eminson of the death.  Is it likely that the Registrar was visiting, as the child’s doctor, when the boy died? (The boy was buried next day, at his mother’s home village, several miles away.)

Secondly, I would be most grateful for your thoughts on the attached marriage certificate for Mary Ann Blow and Thomas Burrill. This took place, in Jan 1860, in the Register Office at Gainsborough, Lincs. Would a Register Office wedding then be unusual? And I wonder if an expert eye can decipher the note in the bottom right hand corner, next to a witness’s name, John Andrew. (Mary Ann had a fellow-villager called John Andrew.) I am not sure if the note refers to this witness, or what it says...

I should perhaps add that Mary Ann Blow had been a teenage servant of Thomas Burrill, hired to look after his sick wife. She had an illegitimate child (George) in 1853 & successfully sued Thomas for financial support. But she returned to his home (in my village) where his sick wife died, bizarrely (as reported in the press) in 1854.

Mary Ann and Thomas appear to have gone on living together. On 15 April 1859 she had a second illegitimate child, who she registered (with Dr Eminson!) as Mary Ann Borrell (one of many variants of Thomas’ name). The child was christened on June 19, 1859. And in Jan 1860, she and Thomas finally married. I would be most grateful for your thoughts on their choice of Gainsborough Register Office – and on whether this office was likely to be in the workhouse, which definitely existed in Gainsborough  at that date. Many thanks!

Thank you very much to RootsChat’s experts for previous help in researching my book, ‘Village’, based in Willoughton, Lincolnshire. I wonder if you can help me find records for an elusive Willoughton child?
On 12 September 1862, The Lincolnshire Chronicle included this in the section of births reserved for the wealthy: ‘On the 31st ult, at Willoughton, the wife of John Wm Richardson, of a daughter.’ Presumably the birth was on 31 August 1862?
John William Richardson was a large-scale farmer. There are records of a previous child born to him and his wife Harriet[t]. Their son, also John William Richardson, was registered in the national Civil Registration Birth Index in 1855. Willoughton Parish registers include his baptism on 21 July 1855. The Death Certificate shows that, sadly, the baby died the same day, of convulsions at 4 days old. His father registered the death a month later, bringing a doctor’s certificate.
But I can find no official record of the Richardsons’ 1862 daughter. I cannot find a national birth record (via Ancestry, Findmypast or FamilySearch) for a female Richardson July – Sept 1862 in the Gainsborough area (which includes Willoughton).
I cannot find Parish birth registers for Willoughton after the end of 1858. I have not found a possible death record. Her father John William Richardson died in 1869, her mother Harriet[t] died on 6 March 1873. Neither mentions a child in their Will. Willoughton Parish Burial Registers are available between January 1862 and March 1873. I can find no record of a child called Richardson.
I’d be most grateful for any records you can trace, or thoughts about this poor elusive child, please!

Thank you for your expert help with some tricky questions! I wonder if you can find the elusive death record of my great-great-grandfather, a Welsh(?) railwayman?
I attach the St Albans marriage record which ‘Rees Lewes’ signed , marrying Sophia Fensom  1837. And the birth record of their second child from Derby, 1839 - Rees’ occupation, ‘Plate Layer’. In the 1841 Census, Sophia, 25, and children had returned to Hertfordshire. No record of marital status, unfortunately. In the 1851 Hemel Hempstead Census, Sophia Lewis is ‘Wid’ – Widow? This may be true...I should add that the poor Lewises have been proved to be untruthful in some later Censuses and Parish Registers! I cannot find a death record clearly linked to my ‘Rees Lewes’ (I have tried all variants I could think of.. Rhys, Lewis etc). I’d be happy to pay the GRO for a death certificate for any likely candidate. A Rees Lewis in 1851 Census, Melbourn, Cambs, is Sophia’s age, Welsh railworker, supposedly unmarried – no definite link. A relative traced 2 sets of later records for similar names in Wales: one had a different marriage signature, one only a Mark... All help much appreciated!

   Hello! I'm a published writer working on a book. RootsChat helped hugely in 2021- thank you! I wonder if your military experts might throw light on the story of my Great-Aunt Ada Ellen Powell- who apparently never married John Perkins, the 1890s Coldstream Guardsman who was the father of her first 3 children? 
   Ada Ellen Powell was born in 1873 at Hednesford,Staffs, daughter of Elizabeth & John Powell, a gamekeeper. John Perkins was born in 1869 at Wacton, nr Bredenbury, Herefordshire, son of a labourer. In the 1891 Census, John is a 'Single'  Private, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, Chelsea Barracks.
    Quick queries, please.. Was this a prestigious regiment? Would a Private who enlisted in 1890 have a choice of regiment? Or would he just be allocated to one? If so, did this depend on regiment numbers, or on the recruit’s ownl qualities? 
   I believe, in the 1890s, only a few soldiers per regiment were given permission by the Army to marry & have wives 'on the strength'? Was a Coldstream Guards Private, married without permission in the 1890s, likely to suffer penalties from the Army? 
    I’ve found no marriage record for Ada & John. On 2 April 1896, Ada registered the birth of her son Albert John Perkins, born on 18 Feb 1896. Father: John Perkins, 'Private Soldier in Coldstream Guards'. Her address: Bowmans Hill, Winslow, 3 miles from John's birthplace. She called herself 'Ada Ellen Perkins, formerly Powell'. Is this a standard description of a wife? This formula appeared on every certificate for her first 3 children.
   On 13 Oct 1898, Ada registered a daughter, Ada May, born 13 Sept, 1898.  Father 'John Perkins, Farm Labourer'. It seems John had left the Army. Ada’s father, often officially called 'Farm Labourer' was definitely a gamekeeper. It’s possible that John Perkins was, too. Ada's address was still Bowman's Hill.
      Sadly, little Ada May died on 27 April 1899. Her mother, Ada Ellen, registered her death on 2 May 1899. All the details she gave matched birth details, with a new address: Suckley Green, Worcs.
     I know that by the 1901 Census, Ada’s parents lived in Suckley Green. Family tradition said that John Powell was a 'Head Keeper' for the Earl of Dudley.  John Perkins may have been a junior Keeper to John Powell, living in a ‘tied’ cottage.
    Ada's mother, Elizabeth Powell, remembered as indulgently kind, registered Ada's 3rd child, William Henry. Elizabeth said she witnessed his birth at Suckley Green,11 March 1900. She called Ada: 'Ada Ellen Perkins, formerly Powell'. William was registered on 3 April 1900, son of 'John Perkins, Farm Labourer'. But John may have already been in South Africa- perhaps as a Reservist- in the Boer War? He died there on 29 May, 1900.
    A descendant of Ada has traced the Army death record: ‘J Perkins. Casualty Type: Died. Casualty Date: 29 May 1900. Casualty Place: Bloemfontein Rank: Private. Force: South Africa Field Force. Regiment: Coldstream Guards. Battalion: 1st Battalion. Number: 7972.' Local newspapers reported that John Perkins died of disease & that his name was placed on a memorial in Hereford Cathedral.
     Do you think that John Perkins may have been first deterred by Army rules from marrying Ada? And that, although they co-habited after he left the Army, they may never have found a chance to arrange a wedding & turn a fictional marriage into a legal one?
     On 31st March, Census Day 1901, Ada, still in Suckley Green, described herself as ‘Widow’, at 27, & gave 'Perkins' as surname for herself & sons. Her 24 year old 'Brother-in-Law' George lived with them, listed as 'Farm Labourer' But in later records he was definitely a gamekeeper. He may have taken his brother's job, & his tied house, keeping Ada in a home.
     On 28 Sept, 1901, Ada & George Perkins married at Wolverhampton Registry office. He was described as a 'Bachelor'. Both gave the same Wolverhampton address, 35 miles from Suckley Green. They may have been on their way to George's 1904 workplace, Wolverley, 40 miles away from Suckley Green. Elizabeth Powell, who could write, was a witness. She presumably knew that Ada described herself, at this wedding as 'Ada Ellen Powell, Spinster'.
   If this was true, Ada's first 3 children were illegitimate. If it was untrue, Ada would, I believe, have broken the law by marrying George It was illegal in 1901 for a woman to marry her late husband's brother. The law was not changed until 1921. 
   Briefly, Ada stayed married to George from 1901 until her death in 1952. They finally settled, for several decades, in a pleasant Buckinghamshire village - over 100 miles from Suckley Green! They had two daughters who lived to be adults.
    Family memory throws no light on Ada's life with John. Frank Powell, her brother (grandfather) was 17 years younger than Ada. He only told me 'My sister married Mr Perkins!' (George, who appears in our photograph collection. No one I know has a photograph of John.)   I must stress that I have every sympathy for Ada, especially for her losses.
    A relative, Ada's direct descendant, researched the family & discovered the parentage of her sons. He - & an elderly aunt - were amazed, having thought they descended from George.  We would both very much like to understand more of the lives of Ada Ellen Powell, Spinster, & John Perkins, Private, First Battalion, Coldstream Guards.
   Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much for your time!