Little Nell: As I said at the start of this; " Elizabeth SARAH and Elizabeth SOPHIA are probably one and the same person. After John Terry Humphries the publican died his wife went to Southampton. When their daughter Elizabeth SOPHIA was at the school in Montpelier Road Brighton her address was given as Southampton. (I have the actual address somewhere I think)
John Laing, the informant on the birth certificate, lived at 61 Montpelier Road Brighton. This address was only about a hundred yards or so down the road from the school at 'Belevedere', Montpelier Road where Elizabeth was living during the 1850s, and she is shown there in the 1851 Census.
On the birth Cert John Laing is only described as 'occupier', That wasn't entirely true though was it!
John Laing died at his Montpelier Road address in 1869; In his Will he left John (Laing) Humphries very well provided for and paid for his education, (we don't know where,) and accommodation with the Potter family at Brighton and Ringmer.
As she was only referred to in John Laing's Will as 'Mrs Potter' she took a lot of finding! Presumably the Brighton solicitor, David Black, would have had her full address at the time.
John Laing was from a Scottish family. It was a tradition in Scotland that when a child was born illegitimate, out of wedlock', the biological father's name would be given to the child as a middle name.
Annette7:
The other Humphries family weren't in Brighton by then and that Elizabeth had died.
As you see you can easily be misled into thinking you have the correct person when you haven't!
Does that cover it all? TCS.
