Well I'm interested you say that, because I have no previous experience, and yet I have difficulties on both sides of my mother's family. For all I know that could be quite normal.Mary in Oz wrote:Crikey Eric You have a doozy here.
I have given most of the details above, I'm not sure if there's much more to say. I would have thought that I'd find a Ernest Hargraves in Lincoln on birth records, or Francis & Mary in Lincoln at some stage (e.g. if he was born about 1891, you'd expect them to be in Lincoln on the 1891 census). Instead the two best matches I could find are both in Hebden, and were there for several censuses.Can you give any more info about this man.
On the other side of the family, an "illegitimate" birth or an unrecorded adoption (perhaps within the wider family) seem to be the best explanations of our inability to find my great grandmother. I wonder whether that could be the explanation here?
I therefore wonder, if no-one else finds them, that the right place to start may be to work backwards. The earliest known facts I have documented are his wedding (in Melbourne) in 1913 and his employment at Jervis Bay. If he truly arrived in NSW about 1899, then is there any way to trace him in that intervening period? I tried the Navy, but haven't got anywhere with that. Perhaps there's an electoral roll I could try. Another thought would be to find him on a passenger list, and at least confirm when he arrived, and where he departed from.
About the only other info I can offer is that marriage and death certificates show religion as C of E.
Thanks again everyone.