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I am interested in the Edward Oakley mentioned, who married Lavinia Smith as I think he MAY be my gg grandfather. I say "may", because my great grandfather was named Edward Oakley Cannon by his mother Emily Cannon. Edward's father was not named on the birth certificate. I have read that at the time, illegitimate children were often named after the father, so as a bit of a leap of faith, I looked for an Edward Oakley in Luton around the same time and came across the Oakley family living at the Welcome Stranger Beer House on Duke Street, Luton.

As I expanded the Oakley family tree, I found that Edward Oakley's mother was called Sarah Nash (1837-1906); Sarah Nash had a sister called Ursula Nash (1831-1868); Ursula was married to Henry Cannon (1827-1895) - my great great great grandfather; Henry and Ursula were (wait for it) the parents of our great great grandmother Emily Cannon!

So, if Emily did have a child by Edward Oakley, Emily and Edward were cousins.

Is there any knowledge in the Oakley family of a relationship with his cousin before he married Lavinia?

I have attached a subset of the tree to illustrate.