Hi Betty,
I suppose the thing to be remembered is that some people did get missed, perhaps because they were on the move.
We were thinking last night about the prison entries for Thomas:
Name, Occupation, Residence, Age, Birthplace, Prison, Year of imprisonment
Thomas Sheridan, Labourer, Jedburgh, 13, Duns, Jedburgh, 1865
Thomas Sheridan, Labourer, Jedburgh, 18, Netherham, Jedburgh, 1869
Thomas Sheridan, Labourer, Jedburgh, 18, Netherham, Jedburgh, 1869
Thomas Sheridan, Labourer, Jedburgh, 18, Jedburgh, Jedburgh, 1869
We have seen Ednam written Ethram, you have to imagine local pronunciation of the time. Edrom and Duns ( the other place of birth he gives) are very close.
Imagine the scene: Thomas is taken into the prison in Jedburgh and the prison officer asks, "Where were you born?" he says "Ethram", could the prison officer have heard 'Netherham'? I don't know? Just a thought really. It could be a farm but I can't see anything like it near Duns where he also says he was born.
Given that we can't find him in the 1861 census I would often suspect the parents' names on the marriage to be fictitious (perhaps to cover up his illegitimacy) and he is living under a different name. As however we have this entry I think he was telling the truth:
Name, Occupation, Residence, Age, Birthplace, Prison, Year of imprisonment
Bridget Halleran or Sheridan, Hawker, Jedburgh, 46, Ireland, Jedburgh, 1861
In the 1851 census Bridget, a widow, is described as a niece of Patrick McCart:
http://maxwellancestry.co.uk/census/51transcript.aspx?houseid=78901129There is also a 12 year old Bridget described as daughter of Patrick in 1851 but in the 1861 she is described as a step daughter:
http://maxwellancestry.co.uk/census/61transcript.aspx?houseid=78919047 showing that Patrick's wife was probably married to a Mr Sheridan before Patrick, perhaps Helen was a Halleran (or O'Halleran) and 'your' Bridget was her niece.
I would suggest getting Helen's death certificate to find out what her maiden name was, if it is Halleran or O'Halleran you could have a family link.
Definitely a complicated situation!
Emma