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William Hird, born 1787 in Lincolnshire, was in Hull by 1843 running a pub at the corner of Silver St and Land of Green Ginger.  His wife was Martha and in 1841 they had a 12-yo son, John.  Can they be found on the 1841 census, please?  I'm trying to pin down when they started running the pub.

James Cotter was born in Norwich c.1852 (though I can't find a birth record).  He was in Hull by 1878, marrying Rebecca Speed, and I can trace him there from 1881 onwards, but I can't locate him on the earlier censuses.  Help would be appreciated.

Thanks so much for these.  From the censuses it looks like Jane was 3 or 4 years younger than William, so she was probably about 19 when they married.  Could you tell me the address in 1891 and 1901? 

Thank you so much, all of you, for all this info.  You might like to know how the story ends, with this piece from my blog:
'Our register records that Robert Brock, aged 81, died on 7 January 1895.  But a note adds: "Presumably; body having been found in the Queen's Dock".  Robert's death certificate and a letter tell us more of the sad story.  7 January was the date he went missing from the Charterhouse.  Presumably there was a search; if there was, it was unsuccessful.  On 26 January, and again on 30 January, it seems that the Master assumed he was dead and was writing to the the council's Charterhouse Applicants Committee asking them to fill Brock's vacant room.  A letter survives from the Town Clerk in reply on 31 January saying that they were deferring a decision "in the hope that some news may be heard of Brock".  His body was not found for more than two months; it was recovered from the dock on 15 March.  There was an inquest, and the verdict was that he had drowned.'

That's an interesting idea, I'll follow it up.  In 1861 Robert has as his mate a George Thomas Brock, not described as his son, so there could very well be a family relationship.  Life on the keels certainly was a family business.