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Thank you for info above - I had found that 1851 census info and I think it might be the right family for my Rafferty line.  But they are all listed as born in Ireland and not sure where in Ireland so can't really do any further searching back without an Irish county/place to look into. 

I wondered if there's somehow a connection with that Martin/Emily Rafferty family but still trying to piece everything together! 

That would make sense because this Patrick Rafferty was indeed an Irish Catholic.  I suppose having left prison, he never went back to his family and ended up in this church run poor house.  I hadn't thought to search church records so perhaps I'll look into if the Cathoic church has any remaining records of people staying in such institutions during this time period.
Thanks again for your help.

My great-great-grandfather's occupation according to his death certificate is a tailor of Westminster.  I do know that his son was a tailor for the House of Lords which makes me wonder if being a tailor of Westminster is a tailor for something to do with the government?  I had assumed when I first read it that he was a tailor "IN" Westminster as in the place.  Has anybody else looked into being a "tailor" as a trade in the 1800's and if there's any lists or information of apprentices or registration?  Any idea if its possible to get information about past employees of the government such as a tailor to make the robes?

I think I've found an ancestor in the 1881 census as a prisoner in H.M. Convict Prison Chatham Kent.  Does anyone know if its possible (and how) to find out why somebody would be in prison during this time period and when they were released?  Also, I can't find any information on Chatham prison itself.  From the internet search I've done so far it seems as though it no longer exists.

Hi.....thanks for the response again.
I've got a pile of census entries for any Taylor I could find living in Burnham between 1841-1861 and I'm still in the process of piecing it all together.  I do have an extensive list of Tarylor info either from the familysearch.org website or a local historian that has given me oodles of info on births/marriages/deaths in all the Burnham villages.  The problem I've run into though is that although I have marriage entries of the early 1800's from church records, there's no mention of parents so its hard to tell who would be possible siblings.
What would be helpful would be to find birth records for who I suspect are 3 brothers:  PETER TAYLOR, JAMES TAYLOR, & JOHN TAYLOR.  They are all shoemakers born in Whissonsett, Norfolk and have all married in Burnham Westgate.  The son of James marries a Harriet Beverley (who I'm a direct descendant of) but this Harriet Beverley's mother is Rebecca Taylor which makes me wonder if there is a connection between Rebecca and these 3 Taylor brothers.  Rebecca Taylor was born 1798 in London City according to census records but was married to Robert Beverley 1817 in Burnham Westgate and her father is Robert Taylor of Burnham Westgate (born 1772) who is the son of another Robert Taylor of Burnham (1735-1782).
Anyhow, I'm off on a tangent.  One possibility I see is if Peter, James, and John were born in Whissonsett but their father being from Burnham and a sibling of one of these Robert Taylors making them some type of cousin (did that make sense?)  So back to my point, do you have any birth records for WHissonsett?  From the census returns, James would have been born in 1795).  The marriage details are:

PETER TAYLOR & MARY MILES - Burnham Westgate July 8, 1815
JAMES TAYLOR & ANNE LAKE - Burnham Westgate Nov 15, 1825
JOHN TAYLOR & PHOEBE SPOONER - Burnham Westgate Dec 25, 1829

Any insight on how to take it back a further generation to see if there's any connection with my  Taylors?  By the way, if you've heard of the Burnham murders it is Peter Taylor who was hanged in Norwich for poisoning his wife Mary and someone else as well I think.  I noticed the Taylor family name on the bottom of your list of interests but from a different place in Norfolk.  I suppose with such a common name it doesn't necessarily mean that people would be related.
I live in Brighton at the moment although I'm actually Canadian and am just living here for a few years.  I thought I'd find out about my English roots while I'm here in the UK and take advantage of the ability to go to places like the PRO in London.

Thanks,
Heather