Hi Lizdb,
For some time what you say has been in my thoughts - however I don't know how to go about this.
what interestes me is why would this person know more about"Mr & Mrs Craggs" than the family.
and why John Craggs cannot be positively located.
What evidence did mr Crabtree give to the registrar. and whose kids are this lot in reality. After Fanny died Ellen was taken in by the Crabtrees as a servant. and is with them in 1891 and the place of birth is different to that stated on the 1881 census, but is exactly as on her[Ellen's ] birth Cert. How would he have known these details.
I was told that the two young boys also went there{crabtrees] but this I haven't seen evidence of.
As you say this is a mystery that would be interesting to follow up but I have no idea where to start.
I am in Australia so getting into actual records is impossible and online searching can be doubtful.
Since Ellen is a direct relative I have a number of boxes of stuff to go through also not well organised by other now deceased family members. There might be some clues in that lot.
Ellen came to Aust. in 1900 and returned in 1912 coming back to family in 1914.
One other diversion in the plot is that Ellen said many times that an older child Sarah-ann Kelly didn't want her mother to marry. How much older she was I do not know and have never traced her.
She may have gone to USA.
Essnell.