At the FRC, clear headed and ready for action, I decided to check for any other William Plummers or Ellen McDonalds but only discovered the same information I had already collected. I ordered one more possibility for William Plummer, just to put my mind at rest, and another for Ellen McDonald. I then did a blanket search for Marelli/Morelli deaths covering some old and some new years.

Interestingly I found a death certificate for Ellen Marelli, aged 30, in the final quarter of 1888. I was pleased with this find but annoyed with myself as I had already found a death in the first quarter of this year but stopped without checking further. It took me some time to grasp that several members of one family can die in the same year, and, even if unlikely, it was not impossible to find two children born in the same year to the same parents. For that matter I suppose a person could marry twice in the same year.

The only thing I am certain of is that a person can only die once in the same year!The next new death I found was for a Frances Marelli of London. I had only uncovered two Marelli families so far residing in England during the nineteenth Century and it intrigued me.I hit a few dry decades and did not discover another death until 1966 for Harry Marelli in the registration district of Aldershot, the town where I actually work. This had to be Henry, son of Martino and Amy. The age given is 63 years which matched the year of his birth of 1903.I came across another death, this time for a Stella Rose Diamond Morrelli and one for Anthony Morrelli. Could they be more of Martino’s children?

The final death I discovered that day was for a William Marelli in 1977. This had to be Martino and Amy’s son as the age again matched with the information I had for his birth. The place of death this time was Chichester. (A couple of years previously while away on a company jolly, I had visited the hospital concerned after falling from a horse and injuring my leg.)

From deaths I went back to births and did a quick blanket search over the years in which Martino and his wives may have had more children. Up until the death of his second wife Amy, there were none except for Rosalier in 1884 and Amelia in 1886. Although I had their death certificates I decided to purchase their birth certificates to complete their history. I was not really disappointed that there were no other children of Martino’s (15 is enough for any man!), as I now felt confident that I had found all the possible children and wives of Martino – it felt good, one mission accomplished.

An aside: I could not find Nan’s birth details in 1907, 1908 or 1909. Mum must be mistaken. I phoned my Auntie Shirley and Uncle Harry – Uncle Harry is Mum’s youngest brother – to ask if they had any copies of my grandparents’ certificates and they sent me a copy of Grandad’s birth and death certificates. Uncle Harry was also delighted when I told him I had been trying to find Nan’s birth certificate because he had been trying for years but had been unsuccessful and now with health problems was finding it difficult to continue.I also looked for the birth certificate for Susan Jordan, Amy Plummer’s mother, from 1837 to 1847 but could not find it. Yet the 1881 Census states that Susan was 40 in 1881 making her date of birth c. 1841.