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There is this birth on Ancestry:- Name: Mary Jane Cosway Year of Registration: 1857 Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep District: Kensington County: Greater London, London, Middlesex Volume: 1a Page: 87 She is the only Mary Jane Cosway on FreeBMD who is old enough to be Sarah's mother. (There could be others though on the full index). This birth is also a lot later than the birth year you give for Mary Jane. You would need to find the marriage certificate to William first though, so you have her father's name. You could then use his name as a checking point when ordering the birth certificate. Kath. x

Right, I have birth cert of Sarah Jane Reynolds and she was born on 17 April 1881 in Exeter. Her mother was Mary Jane Reynolds (formerly COSWAY) and her father was William Reynolds. He is listed as a General Labourer and their address at the time was Cricklepit Street in Exeter. As I don't know the year of birth of Mary Jane Cosway and William Reynolds, I seem to have ground to a halt. There are various Mary Cosway listings and listings for Mary Ann Cosway but not on a lot on Mary Jane. I understand not everyone uses their middle name but I'm not sure where to go from here. Any help appreciated

Reg Not sure what I wrote. I've ended up getting totally confused as to what I'm doing. Wish parents would stop handing their names down, just makes the job more difficult! Spent SEVEN HOURS the other night just trying to find out about Mary Jane Casway!

Have you perhaps given extra detail when requesting the certs? If you put in - say - a name for a parent, and it is not exactly matched, they will not supply the cert. It is a case of 'less is more'................ Reg

Reggie My mistake. They were ordered from the ONS - don't ask me why!

I did come across that COSWAY one and wondered whether it was a mistake and did do other searches on Cosway but not much joy there either

Certs whose references you obtain from Ancestry should be ordered from the GRO..........not from records offices. The Volume and Page numbers are specific to the GRO................ Reg

The information I'm going on is information which would have been supplied by Sarah Jane Reynold's granddaughter. I'm having difficulty finding much on Sarah Jane Reynolds and Charlotte Helena Wright anyway, and I'm sure I found something weeks ago but now I can't seem to! On the other side of my family, I have ordered a few birth certificates after finding their listings on Ancestry.co.uk and given the numbers to the records office only to be told there's no certificate - but they charge you anyway. I'll be skint at this rate! Thanks for all the help thus far though.

Free BMD has a marriage of William Reynolds and Mary Jane Cosway, June quarter 1878, Exeter. (5b 145)

This information has been found from another family tree on Ancestry.co.uk I don't know how accurate the information is. She was however married to Henry Wright as mentioned in one of the posts on here. Haven't ordered certificates yet as was wondering if I was missing something but it looks like everyone is posting up information I have come across myself, so I'm guessing some of the info is wrong re: Sarah Jane Reynolds. Even if I did order her certificate, I think I'm going to still have trouble tracing her mother, Mary Jane Casway - despite it not being a common name. Like I said, I'm new to this so am fumbling about a bit!

Maria You cannot progress without buying Sarah's birth cert. Until you have that document, you don't actually know for sure what her mother's name was. It can be hazardous to rely on info from other people without back-up documentation.......... Reg

Until you get her birth certificate (which seems to be the one Sam found), then you can't be sure you have the right names for her parents. Kath. x

Just a possibility for her parents in 1891 (living in Exeter):- Name: William Reynolds Age: 41 Estimated birth year: abt 1850 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Mary Jane Gender: Male Where born: Totnes, Devon, England Civil parish: St Edmund Ecclesiastical parish: St Edmund County/Island: Devon Country: England Street address: Looks like Roper's Court, Frog (?) Street Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Education: Employment status: View image Registration district: Exeter Sub-registration district: Exeter Western ED, institution, or vessel: 6 Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age Charlotte Reynolds 2 Frederick Reynolds 5 Margaret Reynolds 4 Mary Jane Reynolds 40 Walter John Reynolds 3/12 William Reynolds 41 William Reynolds 12 Source Citation: Class: RG12; Piece: 1691; Folio 23; Page 10 There is a daughter called Charlotte, so Sarah Jane could possibly have named her daughter after this sister. Just speculation though, without buying certificates. Kath. x

There is this marriage on Ancestry which might be her:- Name: Sarah Jane Reynolds Year of Registration: 1901 Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep District: Plymouth County: Devon Volume: 5b Page: 452 One of the other people on the page is a Henry Wright, which would match up with the daughter's surname. Kath. x

1891 census doesn't help............. Name: Sarah J Reynolds Age: 9 Estimated birth year: abt 1882 Relation: Scholar Gender: Female Where born: Exeter, Devon, England Civil parish: Charles Ecclesiastical parish: Emmanuel Town: Laira County/Island: Devon Country: England Registration district: Plymouth Sub-registration district: Charles ED, institution, or vessel: 1 Reg

Can we just check what certificates you have already purchased so far? Do you have the birth cert of Charlotte Wright? If so, this should give her mother's maiden name on there. You should then be able to trace the mother's birth and order that cert to find out her parents names. Locating and purchasing certificates is the only way to confirm any of the info you have and the only way you will know for sure if you are following the right information. Regards - Athena

Where have you had the information from? Do you have Sarah Jane's birth certificate, have you found them on any census? Births Jun 1881 (86%) REYNOLDS Sarah Jane Exeter 5b 111 If you don't already have her cert, you need to get it. Sam x

Am looking for information on Sarah Jane Reynolds, born 1881 in Exeter, Devon. She was the mother of Charlotte Helena Wright. Her mother was apparently called Mary Jane Casway, born c. 1838/39 and her father was William Reynolds. I can't be sure of these details at all and I'm starting to wonder if her middle name is wrong and if she did indeed marry William Reynolds. I have found records of a John Reynolds who married Mary Casway and had children, one of whom was Sarah. It seems to be a very unusual name and I can't seem to find anything definite on her for the years I've been supplied with and her husband's name, but if someone can confirm the details from records on Sarah Jane Reynolds, I'd be most grateful. Hope the above makes sense. (I'm new at this!)