Hi all,
Hit a little bit of a brick wall with the Eckersleys in my family tree. I have Benjamin and Ellen Eckersley both born about 1820 in Wigan. So far I have that they have five children, William, Rachel, Nancy, Paul and Elizabeth.
A lot of family trees on ancestry seem to suggest that Benjamin's father is Samuel Eckersley, but none of these trees have any evidence and it is contrary to the little information I have found.
I used familysearc.org and found that Benjamin married Ellen Peters in Wigan in 1842. However the record is for a Benjamin Eckersley but his father is down as Thomas Marsh.
Now where it gets strange is that all the kids are known under the name Eckersley and I can only see a census record for 1871, all the above children, Benjamin and his wife Ellen are there under the name Eckersley. In 1891 Ellen, her son William and Williams children are living together under the name Eckersley (presumably Benjamin is deceased around this time, I have been unable to find a death record).
Now whats even stranger is in the 1861 census I have found Benjamin, Ellen and all the children living together but under the surname Marsh! The birth places and DOB's are matching.
I cannot get my head round why his father is down as thomas marsh and he is down as Eckersley on the marriage record. I then cannot get my head round why all his kids are Eckerlsey but for a certain period of time they provide their surname of Eckersley before returning to the name Eckersley (presumably after Benjamin died).
If anyone can help I would be very grateful.
