Migky: Thanks for your further help. I seem to have been "stuck" for about 20 years finding more information on ancestor Henry Gough and wife Mary Godwin. I have a copy of their marriage certificate but it lists no names of parents or where they were born. A family headed by a Henry and Mary Gough lived in Prestwich in 1841, along with many family members. However, I cannot connect that Henry and Mary to mine, nor can I connect Henry and Mary's son and my direct ancestor (Joseph), from whom I am descended, to that family, as he was married and living in Manchester at the time of the census. As the '41 census gives the age of the Prestwich Henry and Mary as "50", they would have been born about 1791, precisely the right age for my relatives, who were married in 1816. The only other Henry Gough and Mary (Spencer) marriage in Manchester Cathedral (as listed in the IGI, which we all know is incomplete anyway) took place in 1806, which would mean that that couple would not have been 50 in 1841 (unless they were married at age 15). So, by default and by circumstantial evidence, the 1841 Prestwich Goughs very well COULD have been mine. If I could only find the maiden name of the Prestwich Mary to confirm or dispell this assumption once and for all. OR, bypassing that issue, if I could only find when and where my Henry was born and who his father was. Ditto for my Mary.
I know this is a very long reply and it at least allows me to vent frustration. Anyway, thanks for your help and concern. I will let you know what I find out.
