I am attempting to unravel another of the multiply entangled families of Cottingham
It appears that Edward was born (March 2nd 1874) the second son of Samuel Horsley and Mary Bull. His older brother, Albert, married Ellen Coles in 1892.
The 1911 census declares that he married Sarah J (born September 13th 1875) from Wilbarston 17 years before. They had 6 children, the first, May, born in Wilbarston; the remaining 5 (Lizzie, Ivy, Kenneth, Vera and Florrie) were born in Desborough.
Edward and Sarah J Horsley were living at 64 Station Road Desborough in 1939 - the same address as 1911.
The 1901 census might hold a tiny clue: they had a visitor on the night of the census - 27 year old James Coles from Gretton.
Although Edward's surname is written quite clearly on the census returns and in the 1939 Directory, I have been unable to find a marriage which fits this profile. More strange, I have been unable to find any of the six children around the given years of birth in the new GRO indexes.
So, the question is: Who was Sarah J? Or indeed was Edward Horsley ever married?
Many thanks
Alan