Just checking have you ruled out the marriage in Mar 1860 Leicester?
Thanks for this. The marriage licence looked very promising and gives their ages as '21 and upwards' but the certificate names her father as Thomas, not John. Thomas Beeby's occupation was given as Inn Keeper, and in 1861 at the Joiners Arms, High Cross Street, Leicester is Thomas Beeby, Inn Keeper aged 39 and Fanny his wife, aged 40 born Scraptoft, Leics, so unfortunately not 'my' Fanny Swift.
Are the 1862 marriage witnesses any help or completely unrelated?
They appear to be unrelated.
Sorry - I found Caroline's birth with mmn Swift doing a "sweep" search of GRO online but my reply is misleading.
Strange no father is shown on her birth cert. James Tobin is a horse keeper in 1881 whereas John Tobin was shown as a house painter.
I don't think that James Tobin and John Tobin are the same man, and I'm not even certain that James's surname is really Tobin, although I can't prove it either way. I also haven't found Flora in 1871, nor have I traced her first child, Flora Annie Tobin b1862.
I've discovered that shortly before Flora's death in 1883 the three girls from the 1881 census were sent to the Roman Catholic school at Totteridge, Hants, and all three are recorded as illegitimate. Emma was put into service in 1894 and Caroline in 1897, but Georgina was sent to Canada in 1889, where she married William Naylor.
I'm still working on it, but it seems that Caroline also moved to Canada, in 1899, followed (eventually!) by Emma in 1926.
Georgina's death certificate names her parents as JOHN Tobin & Florence Swift.