I've done a clean search using just John Evan Ellis b 1851 Dudley RD as my starting point.
Dudley 1861 John Evan Ellis, A9, b Dudley, with mother Catherine Ellis, A34, Unm, Tailoress, b Dudley. Also in the household Charles Mills, Boarder, A60, Unm, Tailor, b IOW, and Catherine's 2 daughters, Eva, A4, and Kate, A1.
From FreeBMD, John Evan Ellis b 3Q 1851 Dudley RD, died 3Q 1894 Dudley RD A42.
Going backwards in the censuses:
Dudley 1851 Catherine Ellis, A26, Unm, Tailoress, b Dudley, shown as daughter with Charles Mills, A49, Mar, Tailor, b (Oclerwhite?) and Sarah Mills, A55, Mar, Tailoress, b Yorkshire
Dudley 1841 Katherine Elliss, A15, b Worcs, with Charles Mills, A35, Taylor and Sarah Mills, A40, neither of whom was born Worcs.
Then moving forwards we have:
Dudley 1871 Charles Mills, A60, Widr, Tailor, b Isle of Wight and Catherine Ellis, Dau, A47, with children John E, A18, Eva, A13, Kate, A10, and Ada, A7.
From FreeReg, there is a baptism of Catherine Ellis on 14 Mar 1824, dau of William Ellis, Cordwainer, and Sarah. 3 days later, there is the baptism of Edward, with the same named parents where William is also a Cordwainer. However, there is nothing to say that these are the same parents or if it is just a coincidence of names and occupation.
William Ellis burials from FreeReg are a bit confusing, with one dying in 1825 aged 31, and one in 1828 aged 33. Either or neither of these might be Catherine's father. There is no record online that I can find where a Charles Mills marries a Sarah Ellis.
In Dudley 1881, Catherine is A57, and is recorded as Mar crossed out with Widow overwritten. She still has Eva, Kate, and Ada with her, all Unmarried.
Dudley 1891 Catherine is A60, and a Widow, with Eva, A24, Unm, and Ada, A23, also Unm, both of whom are Tailoresses, and John P A11mths, grandson.
Dudley 1901 she is A76, Wid, Tailoress, with her unmarried daughter Eva, and a grandson Percy A11
[I can see on ACOM 9 Public Trees that have Catherine as the daughter of William Ellis and Sarah Harcourt (not born Yorkshire). There are 4 different trees with one on 4 times, two twice, and one once. All have more or less the same information re William and Sarah, with William dying in 1855 and Sarah in 1842. (One has John and Eva as Catherine's children, and then Kate and Ada twice each.) It looks as though one person has entered the details and the others have just copied them over without checking the information. If this is the sort of information that your "trained" person is quoting, in my opinion you can discount it.]
[I just googled John Evan Ellis and found an entry from you on a forum from 2008 where you include the following info re John's marriages.
1 John Mills(Ellis) +Sarah Matthews St James Lower Gornal 1885
Father John Mills tailor dec.
2 John Ellis +Bridget Durkin St Aug.Dudley 1892
Father Charles Ellis tailor dec.
From that, I found John with his family, and the second wife remarried:
Dudley 1891 John Mills and Sarah, with children including Ada bc1886
Dudley 1901 Bridget Cain with step-children Ada bc 1886 and James bc 1894
You have to think what sort of questions were asked and what answers might have been given.
It appears that John went by the surname Mills for a part of his life. The vicar asks his name, and then the name of his father. If he said "the same as mine" it becomes - John Mills, or it may have been just John or Charles. The occupation speaks for itself as it is consistent. The vicar would then enter appropriately. It may not have been an outright lie.]
The only thing I would say is that you should get all of the certificates you can if you haven't already done so. It is all too easy to get onto the wrong track. However, I've gone from your assertion that the John Evan born in 1851 is the correct one, and everything ties in with what you (and the others on this thread who have looked) have already found.
There is a large gap of 5 years between John Evan and Eva being born. Some time between 1851 and 1861 it appears that Catherine's mother died, so there is a possibility that she had John to one man, and then took over her mother's "duties". It was evidently quite well known for a daughter or step-daughter to have such a thing happen.
Your question was should you give up - I think you know the answer to that, don't you?
