Hi Sandra: Thanks for the kind words. It's easy to write something when the subject is pretty much in your backyard (back garden, as you say over your way).
I think you have found the right family here. Maughan is not the most common name, making a coincidence unlikely. And the Maughan marriages I found include many of the names here--unto the third generation.
Of course, Barbara is the only able to verify, and she hasn't come back to look since last week.
I searched for the Maughans on the Castle Garden website but could not find any members of the family who came in 1881.
I also looked on the Elis Island website and found George Maughan, the father. He is age 73 and is returning from the U.K., May 17, 1900, on the SS Teutonic. There is some confusion because he is a U.S. citizen but has been put on a list with non-citizen passengers.
On the 1900 U.S. census, taken June 1, 1900, a few weeks after he returned to the U.S., George Maughan is 73 and is a naturalized citizen.
On the Teutonic's passenger manifest, George is said to be going to Pennsylvania, no town. His last residence, which is given as Newcastle, normally would not have been included on the manifest if he had been on a list with other U.S. citizens. But Newcastle is close enough to Bedlington that we can perhaps assume it's the right George--by George!. (Bad one, I know.)
John
