Hi,
Sorry for a tardy response but life was a bit hectic today for me. After doing some further research I am fairly sure that this is the correct family. According to my neighbor who I am researching for she has no history of her ancestors being miners, but she does recall Sydney Mines was home to them since the originals immigrated from Ireland. The Jane Hamilton that I seek was married to William R. Cox. She has mentioned that this William R. Cox built a church in Sydney Mines which was replacing one that had previously burned down. From the one set of marriage details on familysearch and according to census records it would appear that the parents of William R. Cox were Richard Cox and Rebecca Denny. Rebecca's father, William Denny, is living with John & Eliza in the 1871 census. Richard and Rebecca (Rebecca is listed living with William & Jane in the 1871 Sydney Mines census) had at least 3 sons - John (b. 1830 Nova Scotia married to Eliza "Lisa" Burke), Michael (b. 1833 Sydney Mines, NS married to Mary Oram) and our William R. (b. 1835). All 3 sons were farmers living next to each other in the 1871 census.
