Hi Maiden Stone,
Thank you for your reply.
All of their children were baptised in to the Church of England.
They are:
Eleanor, b. 1802, Bremhill, Wiltshire
Anne, b. 1805, Bremhill, Wiltshire
Steward, b. 1808, Bremhill, Wiltshire (I thought this spelling was unusual and possibly incorrect, but it continues on censuses throughout his life, so thought this could possibly be a clue?)
Mary, b. 1810, Bremhill, Wiltshire
Susanna, b. 1817, Bremhill, Wiltshire
I hadn't considered that he could have been in the army - I'm a complete amateur and wasn't aware that the conflicts occurred around the time that Robert was in his twenties. There aren't any military records coming up on Ancestry and when I've searched for a marriage with Robert's name
alone and no bride name, the only result that is coming up is a Rupertus Piegler in Salzburg, Austria. I'd always immediately dismissed this as my Ancestry subscription does not cover Europe and I thought that this couldn't have been right at all. But now I'm wondering if this could now be a possibility?
In each census they're in Bremhill in Wiltshire. On the 1851 census, Jane's place of birth looks like it's written as Kilear, Londonderry, Ireland - I've googled Kilear but can't seem to find it so think it's possibly spelled wrong?
They don't have any lodgers or visitors during any of the censuses or any Irish neighbours - although in the 1851 census I've found that one of their nearby neighbours (Ralph Besant) had some visitors and the wife, Elizabeth Besant was born in Liverpool - bit of a stretch though.
Also I noticed on the 1851 census that they live next door to the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. Could this be significant?
Robert's occupation is an agricultural labourer.
I'm so grateful for all of your help, thank you so much!
Selina