A Great Mystery Solved...

I have learned from a recent flurry of research that any one program or subscription doesn't give you every thing you need.  We had found Ezra Riley, new wife and family in Wales in the 1871 Census but the two sons, Thomas Roberts and Ezra were missing.  Using Ancestry.Com, we weren't able to find them.  Also, we could find NO RECORDS for Ezra and Jane in the 1861 Census.

I signed up for The Genealogist, a UK based web site, hoping it could help me solve these two issues.  I hated to spend the money but I was desperate.  Well... I found Thomas and Ezra!  They were at a very small school (looks like there were fewer than 25 students) in Wales.  I still couldn't find the family in 1861.

Last weekend I went to Family History Expo in Atlanta.  I met with a professional genealogist who was very little help but she mentioned Find My Past.  It is also a UK based web site.  Fortunately, they offer a free 14 day trial.  I made a list of people I wanted to check and have downloaded a bunch of things that I need to put into my Ancestry.com files.

So now to the great mystery...I still cannot find Ezra and Family in the 1861 Census but now I know why....
The records for Woolwich are missing!  I had figured they might have been in Woolwich based on the place of birth of their last child.  It doesn't make me happy that it's gone but I am so happy that I know the answer to why they can't be found

From Find My Past:
. 1861 missing pages
Missing pieces of the 1861 census


There are a number of enumeration books missing, or parts of enumeration books (usually missing start or finish), from the 1861 census. Below is a list of the books affected that we know of, both those missing in their entirety (M) and those which are incomplete (I) in the National Archives.

145 Middlesex Islington         Islington East (2)                Islington M
217 Middlesex West London West London North (1)        St Bartholomew the Less I
219 Middlesex West London West London South (2)        Barnard's Inn M
220 Middlesex London City London City SW (1)               St Augustine Watling Street I
229 Middlesex London City London City NE (5)               St Christopher le Stock I
407 Kent Greenwich         Woolwich Arsenal (6)       Woolwich M