A glimpse behind the curtain...

...still processing my mother's paperwork.

Their names were William and Mary, and they lived just eight doors apart in Bootle in Derbyshire. This is their marriage certificate and they were married in the local Methodist Church.

Why is the last digit of the date cut out from all the relevant paperwork? Ah, those Victorians! Who would care today that a marriage was slightly anticipated?

They went on to have seven children - two lost in childhood. William became an insurance agent, and later an agent for Singer Sewing Machines. They moved very soon after the wedding to Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire. Maybe a matter of face?

My grandmother was their second surviving daughter.