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Hi Might be worth asking your uncle where he got his info from. Is it possible Elizabeth's maiden name was Craven? Also a possiblity is that he was adopted but like an informal adoption where he was adopted by the Irwins but was born as a Jackson or something? In the words of Alice in Wonderland.... Curiouser and Curiouser! Alex

It's not a headache I'm getting, it's a migraine! Thanks to everyone ... you've certainly given me some food for thought.

My GGrandfather was not who he said he was either... He was born Robert Crawshaw, yet my Grandmother is a Siddle. He married as Robert Crawshaw Siddle. Turns out his mother married a Siddle, then shacked up with a Crawshaw before Robert was born. He was given that name on his birth cert, and they are down as married though they never did. I guess some time later she told him about it and he changed his name back to her married name. Very confusing, but as you can see, it is possible. I'll be back tonight with anything I find out :)

Just seen that Albert Jackson Irwin above. Hmmm, I was pretty confused when I read my grandfather's memoir - his name was Alec Bristow and he wrote, 'My father was Robert Salter and my mother was Queenie.' But what he meant was his father was Robert Salter Bristow - he didn't think he needed to mention the surname as it was the same as his! Do you think it could be something similar in this case? Kate.

There are a few Edward Jacksons born Mar 1914 (not surprisingly!) but none of the mothers' maiden names match anything you've mentioned. Cravet - no Cravets at all in Mar 1914. In fact, the surname Cravet doesn't exist at all on FreeBMD - are you sure that's what it says?! What we need is to search on Family Relatives, or quarter-by-quarter on ancestry, for Edward Irwin or Jackson or Cravet's birth, but as I don't have any Family Relatives credits and I'm on dial-up I can't do it. Hopefully he will have been born after 1911 with a mother's maiden name that is similar to Cravet, because if he is one of the Edward Jacksons born before 1911 he will be difficult to pick out! Also, on Family Relatives, you could search for a marriage between Albert Jackson and an Elizabeth whose surname looks a bit like Cravet. Or between Albert Jackson and Elizabeth Irwin. Kate.

thanks tracy, you're an angel of note! i think this one is major headache material!

Okay, for a start there is no Edward Irwin birth registered Mar 1914, which is when he should have been registered if the date of birth you have been given is correct (but often the details given by a relative turn out not to be quite right!) I'll just check under Jackson and Cravet... I do know a couple of ways that Edward could be an Irwin even though his parents were Jackson and Cravet: One is he was born a Jackson but his mother later remarried to a Mr. Irwin and Edward took his step-father's surname Another is that Elizabeth was married to a Mr. Irwin when Edward was born. Another is that Albert Jackson decided to change his surname to Irwin for some reason. Back in a few minutes... Kate.

I think I might have to look at this tonight. I'll look through some births, but I think their marriage cert might be the best thing to find first.

Just looked at my uncles' tree ... this is the info. we have - Edward Irwin, born 19/01/14, died 28/07/58 in Stoke-on-Trent known as 'Ted' Lilian Sawkill, born 20/02/14, died 31/05/75 in Stoke-on-Trent

Do you know when your grandparents married?

Yep, info. is from a relative. None of it makes any sense to me, cos of the Jackson/Irwin scenario. My dad has Jackson as his middle name; so some of it got muddled up somewhere down the line. Even the year of birth, I got from a relative.

I meant his dad, sorry. Has the information about the parents names come from a relation? It seems a bit odd to me. I can't find an Elizabeth Cravet anywhere. Do you know your Grandad's exact dob, or just the year?

My dad has two siblings ... James and Mavis. I haven't a clue beyond that, so sorry!

Do you know if Edward (snr) had any siblings?

My dad is from South Shields County Durham; a family member has got them down as being from Essex

Hi there Sharon - u dont give an area to look at - do u know where they lived or where any of them were born??

Where are they from?

Here's a tough one for someone who has the time, inclination and energy!! My dad's parents were Edward Irwin and Lilian Sawkill - no problems tracing my nan's side of the family - it's Edward Irwin that I seem to have come to a complete dead end. My father's name is Edward Jackson Irwin (b1937); his father's name was supposedly Edward Irwin (b1914) but I can't find any records of him. And his parents were supposedly Albert Jackson (b1886) and Elizabeth Cravet (b1886). Note how the surname changed from Jackson to Irwin ... don't have a clue how that happened. So does anyone feel like biting their teeth into this and finding out what's happened??? Many thanks in advance, Sharron Irwin