Hi Wendy
thanks for your reply, yes i have the death of Martha in 1873 Johns wife, john had a daughter Elizabeth in 1874 with Catherine dugard which was quick work!!!!
i missed the death of Caroline in Aston in 1874,
i did wonder if Martha was Catherine's daughter at first but she was not in the household in 1871 and i did a quick check to see if she was in the area but with no luck!
i did speak to an old member of the family before she died in 2006, who was the daughter of Catherine 1881,daughter of John and Catherine who told me that her mother referred to Martha as a sort of half sister, but she didn't know much except that she was from B'ham! maybe i will have to get the birth cert. for the Martha ward born in Aston in 1868 and see if thats the one!
as you said Martha would have been too old to have been the mother.
I also wondered if Martha was John and marthas "ward" rather than it being her surname but when i found the marriage of Elizabeth to David ward, felt there maybe some connection there.
i have been researching the nappers for a while now, with the help of a friend who is far more experienced than i,! but i am now trying to go it alone..but i am new to this form of communication, so you will have to bear with me till i get the hang of it..!
i would like a copy of the marriage of John and Elizabeth and her parents as i have not got anything about them at all yet. i have a far amount of info re; the nappers though, so if i have anything of interest to you i will gladly pass it on. when i have found out how to do this of course!
I have had contact from 2 others of the family both descended from John and Catherine with whom i have exchanged info, but this was done through my friend as i didn't have a computer at the time!! he has most of my tree stored on his at the moment!!
hope to here from you soon.
regards Annette.