Hi guys, I'm new here so I apologise if this is posted in the wrong place or anything.
I've been trying to do a bit of research on one of my ancestors; my great-great-great-great grandmother, Mary. Unfortunately I don't know her maiden name, but I do know she married Thomas T Bates and was born around 1798. I was trying to find her in the 1861 census and I believe I have; there is a Mary Bates listed as a visitor in the household of Thomas Ratcliffe and his wife Jane in North Luffenham, Rutland, which is where I think Mary was born. However, I am slightly confused, because in the same household there is a Sarah Sumpter and a Reuben Faulkes, and Sarah is listed as Thomas and Jane's
son, not daughter... Reuben is also listed as a son, but why would they have different surnames to their parents? I could understand it of Sarah, if she was married, but she's listed as unmarried. Also, under occupation, it says Sarah is a 'domestic son' and Reuben is a 'farm son'. What do these terms mean exactly, and why is Sarah continually referred to as a male, even though her age is written in the female's column? Just a mistake, or does it have some other meaning?
Thanks for any help you can give me
