Hi Dawn,
Your detail needs to be about ten years earlier to give you a fighting chance of finding your family, Once you can get back before 1901, you can view online the 1901 census for England for a small charge- usually about £5 minimum cost for 7 entries. It is a pretty good service, and gets you back a few years.
I do not know if you are in England, but you can also view the BMD at many local libraries, on microfiche. This is also an excellent tool for finding births etc, and gives a year / quarter of year but does not give much more info apart from this.
On FreeBMD, there are 23 entries for Cruikshank in Durham for 1837 onwards, but the latest is 1899, so not that useful. I find the best info to get before 1901 is family memories, old wills which often give brothers / sisters etc, and lots of luck. Have you tried a google search? This can pay dividends sometimes too.
No permanent solutions, but I hit these brick walls all the time, and there are always ways to get round them.
Best
kevan