« Reply #4 on: Saturday 05 June 21 20:49 BST (UK) »
Alfred Sills born c1854 the 'father' named died 2 years before he was born..... so John Sills is not the father, so Alfred 'Sills' is illegitimate and not part of the 'Sills' family line and so the Sills line are not your ancestors.
That means Lydia is his mother so ancestry research from her ( wheatley ancestors) , unnamed father, you could look for Bastardy bonds in the poor law records to see if you can find the real father named, otherwise his male line comes to an end with regards to record research
There are several portions of the 1861 census that are 'lost' ...
I wonder if Alfred just assumed he was born in S in A or Mansfield when in reality he was just brought up in one or the other town, in the mid 1850s the two separate towns of S in A and Mansfield would have been far further apart than they are now ...Pinxton is just across the notts border in Derbyshire but very close to S in A ( and another smaller town Kirkby in Ashfield) Sutton in A is a parish, in the union of Mansfield.
My daughters birth registration is Mansfield however she was born at Kings Mill which is Sutton in Ashfield ( not Mansfield)
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