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« on: Friday 10 February 06 23:44 GMT (UK) »
Neil,
Many thanks for your comments and the contact info.
WR Clark was living in High Street, Lymington, Hampshire at the time of his marriage in 1855 at Salisbury. At that time he was an independent minister at the Independent Chapel in Lymington. He was not ordained until 1857 after which he moved to St Matthias, Birmingham about 1857 before moving on to Taunton about 1860.
His wife Elizabeth Jane Higgins was a scholar in Lymington in 1851 census (her family were in Salisbury where her father, Charles Higgins, was an inn-keeper/brewer. He was 36 and she was 20. I have the certificate.
The 1871 and 1881 census both refer to Lymington, Hants, although the 1891 census in London (she was the wife in the Petre family by then) says Birmingham! As a long-shot I checked FreeBMD in Birmingham and Aston (St Matthias is in Aston parish) to no avail.
My original FRC index search was based upon the name rather than the location.
I think following up your suggested contacts will be my salvation.