You have to be lucky of course, but when stuck with a name you might just find the answer through somebody else living in the same house or even a neighbour, as I have just discovered.
First of all I have to thank Celia for finding the family of Margaret Wilson in the 1901 census in Stockton for me. This gave me the names of her parents Charles and Ann Wilson.
Since I do have the 1891 census for Durham on CD Rom discs I looked up Charles and Ann there and found them with Ann's mother Jane and siblings Frank and Ralph. But just look at the surname given by Jane - see attachment. I took it to be 'Henderson'. Not being sure I checked Family Search who have Jane Frank and Ralph all surnamed 'Smithson'.
The key to unlock the door was the Lodger, Robert Marsh. There he is as a Lodger at 5 Alexander Street Stockton, and Jane is Head of the house and a widow.
Going back to 1901 I found that Robert Marsh is still at the same address but is now Head of the House with a Jane A Marsh aged 60 as his wife. Could this be Jane mother of Frank Ralph and Ann? Family Search have her age as 57 in 1891 so there was added doubt.
So I searched for a marriage and through Free BMD I found that a Robert Marsh married a Jane HEWITSON in Stockton in the Jul/Sep qtr of 1898. I then found that a Jane Ann Denham had married a John Hewitson in Stockton in the Jan/Mar qtr of 1865. John Hewitson died in the Jan/Mar qtr of 1891 in Stockton so Jane was newly widowed when the 1891 census was taken.
Then to round it off for the moment I found Jane Ann Denham born in Darlington in Jul/Sep qtr of 1840, so her age in the 1901 census is correct, but Family Search are wrong again.
In both census' Jane gives her birthplace as Darlington so not much doubt there, but Robert Marsh was born Oldham Lancs in one census and Heywood Lancs in the other. I got his birth year from his death in 1919 when 71, and then sure enough there he is in the first quarter of 1848 with birth registered at Bury which is right next to Heywood.
The moral of the story is never give up, the vital clue may be staring you in the face.
