HI
Just going back to Deb's suggestion that maybe the reason I couldn't find Fred's birth with Henry and Ellen as parents was because Henry had been married before - well I went on FreeReg last night and tried to find the children of Henry and Ellen. (I'd heard the site has been updated over the bank holiday weekend so I thought I'd try again. You can imagine the numbers involved for SMITH !). I narrowed it down to just Henry as father.
Anyway, had trouble finding most of them BUT don't know if this is relevant or if I'm going completely off the rails - of the two I did find within reasonable dates were these:
Charles
Frederick Smith bpt Feb 1863, Christ Church, Radford, Notts, son of Henry Smith and Ann Stuart. Their abode Park Side, Radford, Notts, Father's occupation Lace merchant
andCharlotte Smith bpt May 1868, St Mary's, Newark, daughter of Henry and Ann Smith. Their abode Water La?? (Lane?) Newark. Father's occupation labourer.
and just to confuse matters more there was a Harriette Smith within her dates d/o Henry Charles Smith and Mary Allen in George St Radford. He was a shoe manufacturer.
So to confirm or eliminate I now think I need to know what sort of area Park Side Radford was in the 1860s - ie an actual road or land. Also would lace merchant be a traveller's job does anyone know, or would it be shop based - and in Newark, Water Lane?... and my henry later was selling tinware which is a bit different to lace.
What do you think? Coincidence ?

Chez