i have hit a brick wall, can anyone help please

[barbarai]

hello.

I've come to a complete standstill in the plumstead/woolwich/Charlton/Lewisham area.     My 2x gt grandmother Eliza Phillips b. 1851 Woolwich supposedly married a George Baker around the early 1870's, but I have been unable to find any record of this marriage.  From their first child's, also called George, birth certificate in 1875, his father was a blacksmith at the Royal Arsenal and they were living at 3 Station Road Woolwich.  Their second son Henry Walter b. 1879, his father George was now a master tailor, and living at 92 Beresford St.  By 1882 their daughter Amy was born and they were living at 6 Beresford St, father was a journeyman tailor.

George Baker was not at home on the night of the 1881 census and Eliza has been transcribed as unmarried. 

In the 1891 census there is no trace of any of the family including Eliza's mother and sister, (Mary ann & Mary Ann Phillips) who  ten years before were living in the same street.

In 1901 census Eliza and her three children were living at 33 Piedmont Road, Plumstead, and she was transcribed as a widow.

I have no information on George Baker concerning his birth date or place but do know that he was a volunteer in the Prince Consort's own Rifle Brigade.  Family "legend" has it that he died during the Boer War, but again I can find no info to confirm this.

I have tried looking for the marriage in all the usual ways, online and at the Family Records Centre but nothing and to go any further I need to know at least George's father's name.

Has anybody got any advice on which avenue to search next?  Thank you. Regards.  Barbarai. 

[loo]

Perhaps they did not in fact marry;  it sounds like you have turned the house upside down on this one!

[corinne]

What immediately jumps out at me is the change of occupation.  It would be highly unlikely, if not impossible to have that sort of change of occupation because of the years involved in apprenticeships and training, and only four years between different occupations.  Therefore, what I suggest is that you have somehow combined two different families by mistake here.

You will need to go back and retrace, and try and find other George Bakers around the same time.  I'd work separately on two groups:  Try and find some more details of George Baker the blacksmith of Woolwich and any other family names that definitely link with that.  Then separately try and find any more about George Baker the tailor and family members who link with them.  At some point it will become clear which is the right family for you.

Another possibility perhaps is a mistaken transcription, giving the wrong occupation.  To check this you will need to view original documents. 

Don't give up.  Getting the wrong person in your tree and going along a totally wrong branch for a while is very easy to do.  You just have to get into the habit of never assuming you have the right person until you have absolutely verified it by checking details in several different ways.