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Oh Potty - I missed that. Do you think it might be one of "those" homes?

Thank you so much. Yes this is the correct family, George Phipps being my grandad. Couple of things (sorry I am quite new to this), on Ellen and John's marriage certificate, it shows that John Alexander is a Cook but does not say deceased so I presumed he was still alive at that point (1882). Your dates of death make sense though (apart from this query). Why can I not find John Alexander on a previous census, would this be because he was possibly still in India? Could it be that he came over here, married, had one child, and died in quite a short space of time hence not being able to find him on any other cencus. Because he was born in India, will I not be able to carry on his search? Thank you for the info on the hospital/workhouse, have spent ages looking for info on this, most of the workhouses were large but this one was only small so would make sense if it was a hospital. Can I ask where you got the deaths from? Any idea how/where I would be able to find Margaret Alexanders maiden name? Also would I be able to find out when John Alexander came over here? (The other theory in the family was that his family were involved with Buffalo Bill.) Sorry to keep asking questions, you have been so helpful, things are starting to fall into place after all this time. Thank you.

Mary - I don't think Buffalo Bill ever went to Madras (but I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong!!) The 1871 census original actually gives birthplaces as "East Indies, Madras" - I think that should probably be East India.

I just have a hunch that the different types of Indians are being confused.

I've put a link on the bottom of the death records I found - it's one of the best sites for BMDs.

Normally, I'd say that the mother's maiden name should be obtained from the child's birth certificate. However, I can't find a record for Ellen's birth. Up until around 1874 there wasn't much pressure on parent's to register children's births so there are probably large numbers that we can't find records for.

I'm not finding a marriage for John and Margaret, either.

Lists of incoming passengers on Ancestry only start from 1878 so we'll not find anything on there.

Aghh............ what do you mean "one of those" homes???????????

Well, there were homes for unwed mothers - and there were a lot of them in those days.

Sorry, don't mean to cast aspersions on poor Ellen's morals!

To be honest, it could be anything. If those deaths are her parents then she may have no-one to turn to if she was in service and taken ill.

Might be worth researching what the building actually was ....

Mmmmm.... yes I think you may be right. Especially as she got married the following year. Am going to go to Manchester to see what records I can access. Am also going to send off for the two death certificates (John and Margaret Alexander) to see if they give me any more info. The only query I have is that on the order form for Margaret, where is says "if a married woman, please give details of husband", it says "not applicable" yet her husband was still alive at this point. Very confusing. Just another thought, if John and Margaret died in 1872 and 1873, then their daughter, Ellen would only have been aged around 12. I wonder where she went/who looked after her.