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Heather, thanks for the reply. I'd noted those records, but without the certificates, there's no way to tell if either - or both - relate to the person I'm looking for. (I wonder if they'll ever make all certificate information available online instead of just the records?)

There's a record at 192.com for a Jack Davis aged 65+ in Blackpool FY4, but no again no way to tell if it's the right one. I'm hoping I'll get lucky and that someone with knowledge of that family, or local contacts, will see my posting and reply.

I found 3 census records for Jane:

1851 - in Tissington, Derbyshire, aged 44 with birth place given as Staffordshire. The head of the household is Joseph Rushton, who she married just half a year earlier on 29 October 1850. He is listed as just 30 years old! (I've looked closely, it's definitely not 50.) This means he was born in about 1821, which puts him close to the age of his first wife. This census record says he came from Hollington, Derbyshire; his marriage records both name his father as Joseph, and there is a baptism record for 1822 for Longford (very close to Hollington) which matches.

I have found no record of Joseph after this!

With them are: two of his children from an earlier marriage to Hannah Wigley (1822-1846), Emma Rushton (7) and Louisa Rushton (5); William, aged 3 months - so looks like the marriage was a necessity, assuming Joseph really was he father; and two of Jane's children from her previous marriage to John Bowler (1802-1847), Emma Bowler (6) and Harriet Bowler (4). [Emma Bowler was my 2x great grandmother.]

Interestingly, the same census page has a Bowler family - although the surname was common in the area, I wonder if they might have been related to Jane's late husband John?

1861 - at 21 Stone Street, Ancoats, Manchester, Lancashire, aged 54 with birth place given as Kingsley, Staffordshire. She is listed as the head - no sign of Joseph - and iriitatingly, the marital status has been left blank. She is working as a 'Carder in cotton mill', as is her stepdaughter Emma, now aged 17. William is listed as 10 (should be 11), who was already working as a piecer in the cotton mill [they were often called 'little piecers' because they started young]. There are two more children, Hannah (7) and Lucy (5) - so Joseph must have been around until at least 1855.

1871 - in Bentley Road, Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire, aged 64, again with birth place given as Kingsley, Staffordshire. She is again listed as the head, and the entry says she is married (not widowed). With her still are her children William, Hannah and Lucy. Nearby her daughter Emma Bowler is living at Bentley Head in Fenny Bentley, now married to my 2x great grandfather, Ralph Allcock.

Jane died in Q4 of 1871.

Trish, thank you for your efforts. But I don't think this the same family, and not just because there is no mention of a Jane.

Today I found census records for Jane from 1861 and 1871 that indicate she was borning in Kingsley, Staffordshire in about 1807 - this is quite some distance away. However, I haven't found any records directly related to her birth, nor any clue about the occasional use of the name Harvey.

I'll try looking further, but I may soon have to get that marriage certificate!

Thanks for the replies.

Jane was born in about 1807 in Stafforshire. She remarried on on 29 Oct 1850 in Tissington, Derbyshire to Joseph Rushton, giving her surname as Holloway, and her father's name as Michael Holloway.

I wondered if this might be her third marriage; that she might have been married before John Bowler to someone with the surname Harvey.

I was hoping that if there were a parish record for her marriage to John, it would shed some light.

As you have already noted, different surnames were recorded for the births of Emma and Harriet. There is also a baptism record for the same day as Emma for another child, Rosanna Bowler (at Family Search). Interestingly, there is a batism the previous year of a Rosina Holloway, mother Jane (no father noted) on 1 Mar 1844 in Tissington, Derbyshire - which is where Jane remarried in 1850!

Mike, you've found the right record despite my HUGE mistake - the son is call John, not William as I wrote.

These records you have seem invaluable for Leicester records, I'm surprised they haven't been snapped up by Ancestry.

Thank you once again for your help, I really appreciate it.