Anne ROBERTSON ca 1843

[garlands]

No, but can Edward HILLS really be Henry HILLS?

In the few years around 1865 I have found more HILLS - ROBERTSON marriages than you can shake a stick at, but, no Henry HILLS.

I accept that there are many similarities between 'Edward' and 'Henry', but are they enough for us to say the official record is wrong?

[Forfarian]

I've looked for the marriage of Anne ROBERTSN & Henry HILLS in FindMyPast, Scotland's People and Family Search, all to no avail. Where else can I look?

FindMyPast, FamilySearch etc have indexes to the original records that are at Scotland's People. Therefore if it's not on SP it's not going to be on any of those web sites (and they don't have all the original documents in any case). It's not like the USA or Australia, for example, where some sites have some of the information and others have different batches of records.

From 1855, it was compulsory to register all marriages that took place in Scotland. All marriage records are held by Scotland's People and all are available on the Scotland's People web site. There is nowhere else to look for marriages in Scotland after 1855, and trying any of these other sites is just wasting your time.

See https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=714261.0

If they married somewhere other than Scotland, you could try https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl for England and Wales or https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ for Ireland.

[Forfarian]

I accept that there are many similarities between 'Edward' and 'Henry', but are they enough for us to say the official record is wrong?

I believe so.

But wait until you see what Elizabeth's marriage certificate tells you about her father's name and occupation. If he is Charles and something like a sawyer, that means that that is the correct marriage for Anne, and therefore that Edward and Henry are the same person.

[garlands]

Thanks for both your replies. I shall wait (impatiently) for the certificate to arrive.

[Neale1961]

No, but can Edward HILLS really be Henry HILLS?

You have the birth of Henry to parents Sarah Ann Davidson and Henry Hills
You have the same parents named on the 1863 marriage record in Edinburgh.
You also have the Davidson name given to one of Henry’s sons in 1871

You have the 1861 census which finds Henry in Edinburgh in the Royal Artillery.
You have on the 1863 marriage in Edinburgh record that Edward (Henry) was in the Royal Artillery
You have the whole family in 1871 in the Royal Artillery camp in Kent.
You have at least 8 children’s births where Henry is recorded as with the Royal Artillery.
You have a military record showing Henry being pensioned out in 1879 from the Royal Artillery.
You have his sister-in-law marrying someone in the same regiment.

[garlands]

I accept all your points, which prove beyond all doubt that Henry HILLS really was Henry HILLS, but do they prove that Edward HILLS was actually Henry HILLS? Or should we accept Sherlock Holmes's mantra that "having eliminated all possibilities, whatever is left must be the solution"?

[Forfarian]

I think that those of us who have worked for many years on original documents and have become accustomed to the incidence of errors in the original records will by now by pretty sure that Edward is an error for Henry.

When Elizabeth's marriage certificate arrives, be sure to let us know what it says.

[garlands]

I certainly shall

[garlands]

Just received Marriage Certificate:-

26th March 1873 in the Parish Church of Cheriton, Kent

David KETTERIDGE,      30, Bombardier R A of Shorncliffe, father William KETTERIDGE, Labourer

Elizabeth ROBERTSON, 20,                        of Cheriton,     father Charles ROBERTSON, Sawyer

Witnesses:   H HILLS
                  S G TAYLOR