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My gggrandfather Richard Lewis of Glamorgan married an Elizabeth Cozens(born about 1848) somewhere in the early to mid 1870s. Richard was a private in the Royal Welsh Fusilliers and moved around. My great grandfather was born in Gibraltar. ( very useful fact in tracing Richard Lewis' in Wales) The next child was born in Plymouth and then he left the army in 1881......I am trying to find a means of connecting Elizabeth Cozens to a family in Drayton as I cannot find a marriage and therefore a father's name.

If he was in the army, have you tried the Army Chaplains' Returns of marriages 1796-1880? The index is online on the pay-per-view site www.1837online.com if you find an entry you can apply for a certifiacte via the GRO.

If the marriage is not there, try the regimental returns of marriages, these are not indexed as the births are. You have to know the regiment to request a search. This used to be available at St.Catherine's House so presumably is now available via the FRC (thankfully I haven't had to go anywhere near London in many years).

If you have his service record (from TNA), and he married whilst in the army, the service record should record his marriage (when, wehre and to whom) as a way of updating next-of-kin - again this may help in tying down where to look for a certificate.

As regard Elizabeth COZENS, Drayton is a parish with its own registers. Do be aware that this is a fairly regularly occurring surname with several variant spellings, so confirming that you have the correct Elizabeth may not be that easy; but apart from that have you tried the GRO index for her birth?

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

In that case try TNA's resedarch guide
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=253
for ideas - or possibly one of the other newspapers - The Norwich Mercury?

There is a place of offence, try parish registers and/or AT/BTs - also surviving workhouse records for which try NROCAT.

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

The most detailed surviving information on crimes and trials usually survives in local newspapers. A report may well identify where the offender came from and so give you a lead as to parish registers to try for a baptism (if he was 19 in 1832, you are unlikely to get a date of birth for him in the registers). Surviving newspapers should be held at Norwich and also at the British Library Newspaper Collection.

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxforfdshire

if there is a website where i can find and apply for his army records, were records kept for these type of units ? this part of family history is all very new to me so any help gratfully recieved.

Read TNA's research guides on British Army records
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp#b

Medal cards may be downloaded via Documentsonline

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire