Genealogy Chat

Hi Kathryn You don't say how old your Grandma is but I do know my Grandad (86 years young) seems to remember some things one day and not the next. It does seem odd that she should have mentioned a Sarah before. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a second marriage. Looks like you've got a lot of searching on 1837 ahead of you! Jeanette:-)

I am searching for a Robert John Thomas and a Robert Arthur Thomas (father and son) on the 1901 census. I am 95% certain that Robert junior was 3 on census night. There is also a Welsh and Lincolnshire connection. There were 23 possibles for Junior, and so I checked all the ones in Wales and Lincs. Any with the correct middle initial (or no initial) I looked at the household. Only one seemed to have a father called Robert (aged 40). Now the wife and mother of the household was a lady named Sarah Thomas. Here is where the story gets interesting. My grandmother told me several years ago about a Sarah Thomas. She even mentioned that she had effectively died of exhaustion - ran herself into the ground. When I asked my grandmother last year about Sarah, I got a blank look. Now she says that Robert Senior married a Mary Allison (her surname, not a middle name). So what now? My grandmother has been pretty accurate with names before, even if dates are beyond her. I do have one theory - maybe he married twice! Robert Senior and Sarah are 40 and 35 on the census, yet their kids are babies. It is very possible that Mary Allison was the first wife. Alternatively, this household may have nothing to do with my family.

Please see below.