Hi Welsh Lady and Makayla,
Interesting reading, and I am very curious to now try to see if either of us link into the William.
Perhaps there is a link with you Makayla. The records office said there were several Craggs families in St John's Chapel. I have scoured the marriage registers for the time approx when there may have been a marriage, between John and Jane, and can only find a John Craggs marrying in 1845 in Houghton le Spring (which is where "Jane" comes from acc to the census') I have their first recorded child (Thomas) being born in 1850. It could be them, and I might send away for the certificate to see if anything useful comes to light. I would have expected to see children earlier than 1850, but maybe there were and they died. It is possible that there was another marriage in 1849, because the marriage records only have 2 quarters of the year available...... Other than that I am still struggling to get anything concrete on this John pre the 1841 census when he wasn't married.
Does your Joseph have any brothers that you know of Makayla?
I will send for the marriage certificate and feed back any info.
Many thanks
Ruthy