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I've been going through the records seeing what I can transcribed.

I've also noticed a couple of things I didn't before:

• John enlisted in Guernsey, and joined in Dover six days later.
• At the top of one page it was noted that his religion was Roman Catholic.

I am now pretty sure John was living in Guernsey. And I also believe his family is of Irish origin. His father may have possibly been born in Ireland. I have seen the family name recorded as Riordon rather than Reardon.

Thanks, I suppose its always possible that Thomas bigamously married in Missouri, with Eliza and William heading back to England. Whether she actually was a widow, or just pretending to be. The two children she had in 1866 and 1867 had no father listed on the birth certificates, so definitely weren't Thomas' children.

My 3x-great-grandfather, Thomas Collingwood is a bit of a mystery, and one of the brick walls I really want to break down on my tree. Perhaps the clever folk here can help. Here is what I know about him:

He was born in 1821 in England. I do not actually know where in England, I cannot find a baptism for him and he doesn't appear in any England & Wales census records. His parents were William Dixon Collingwood and Phoebe Boyles.

In married Eliza Smith on the 30th September 1847 in Ainstable, Cumberland. I have this marriage certificate. His occupation is listed as Gentleman. His father, William Dixon Collingwood, was a Captain in the Army (I have managed to track the Collingwoods further back, and know more about previous generations than Thomas!)

His son William Dixon Collingwood (named after his grandfather) was born in 1848 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Thomas' profession was listed again as a Gentleman.

In 1850 sailed to the USA from Liverpool on the ship Camillus with his wife Eliza and his son William. They arrived in New Orleans on the 10th April 1850.

They can be found in the 1850 US census living in St Charles, Missouri.

His daughter, Agnes Eliza Phoebe Collingwood (my great-great-grandmother) was born on the 3rd October 1852 in Ainstable, Cumberland, England. On Agnes' birth certificate, Thomas occupation was listed as a Surgeon, a family profession.

Eliza can be found in the 1861 UK census living as a widow with her two children, William and Agnes, in Ainstable. She would later go on to have two more children, Mary and Harry, illegitimately.



My guess is that Thomas died in America in 1850 or 1851, and (a possibly pregnant) Eliza and her son came back to England on their own. I cannot find, or even know where to look to find death records for Missouri to prove this.

As Eliza can only be found widowed by 1861, it's possibly they all came back together and Thomas died in England, but I cannot find any matching deaths for Thomas.

Can anyone provide any insight or ideas on how to find out more?

Thanks. I have identified Edward's marriage and children's births. I've even managed to find Florence Stuckey living in St Sampson in Guernsey in the 1881 and 1891 Channel Islands censuses, and in Alverstoke in 1901. I cannot however find an Edward Reardon or Edward Riordon in the 1881 Channel Islands census.