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Just had a thought, the surname was given as Tomlin on 1861 census and you altered it to Finlan, could it be possible than an enumerator was told they were Finians and mistook this for their name? Maybe this sounds daft but strange things did happens with dialects etc., if these people were of Irish decent and not understood properly, the enumerator may have put anything down in those days.The only difference between Finlan and Finian is the i and the l.

That is an interesting concept MB - one I had not considered.
James Finlen Snr married MAry Caroline Magee in Newcastle in 1858 - marriage cert says Finlen - the censuses that were changed came after that..

Have been told Finlen is an unusual name and keep losing the trail as a result of spelling changes. Family has kept Finlen spelling in Australia.

Cannot find bith and deaths of James Snr anywhere as I don't know where to start looking. Only know James Snrs father was Patrick. Sounds Irish, doesn't it????

Beverley

PM'd Sue
Beverley

Hello Beverley, I know it was a strange thought of mine but if there were say another family living either in the same houseor next door or upstairs or wherever, lots of families shared houses and even rooms, and the family you are looking for happened not to be in, the enumerator could have asked one of these other persons "Who else lives here" and got the reply, "Well there are the Finians(Feneans, Finiens) who at that time were agitating for freedom for Ireland from England i.e. 1848-1922 in Ireland and England, later in the US and Canada, and the neighbour perhaps didn't think that they maybe "shopping" this family or at least the Father to the Government and who knows, maybe his disappearance from the next census could mean he was in prison.
OK my imagination does tend to run away with me I read too many mysteries, but it is a possibility, and lends a bit of excitment.
As for ages on the census the informant could have guessed by comparing them with their own children
Regar ds

MBEOS

I like where your mind goes!!!! Entirely plausible ... on the marriage cert for James, the father is Patrick Finlen ... I have not found any information at all about him yet James, whose census I find has Finlen. Could he have made up his father's surname to be Finlen based on your idea, do you think?

Beverley :)

Have you looked for Birth, Marriage or Death of Patrick Tomlin?

The family could have become known as Finians and possibly as in Wales where people were known as Jones the Milk or Davies the Butcher, Patrick could have become known as Patrich the Finian and as name changes were common in those days he could have become known as Patrick Finlan (Finlen) People changed their name for all number of reasons. Do you have Ancestery membership? I don't at the moment but if you don't maybe you could ask for help on Trying to Find.

Thanks May Blossom

In fact I had not thought of looking for Patrick or James Tomlin death info. Will have a look see and maybe something will come up

Beverley

Please let us know whether you have any luck or not.