Wow! This is great.

[Jayne]

I can't believe how hard you all worked on trying to find my "Maltese" Crantons the other day - I went to bed and didn't realise you were all still trying to find them.
You came up with some interesting stuff.

Maybe they're not red herrings. CYRIL PAUL GALEA 'CRANTON' had 3 children:

CYRIL SYDNEY CRANTON, MAUD CRANTON, AND GLADYS CRANTON. (I'm assuming the Maud and Gladys wouldn't be their full names and could be their middle names.)
The interesting bit is that the MAUD CRANTON married somebody called SAMUELS - so maybe you are onto something with your Beatrice CIANTAR marrying a SAMUELS. Who knows. Thank you ever so much for your efforts.
Jayne

[Pam Downes]

Hi Jayne,
Do proceed with caution but following on from Bumblebee's findings for a family in the 1891 and 1901 census...
Birth registration Beatrice Maud G. CIANTAR, Chorlton registration district, December 1889, 8c 848

And though they are indexed as Giantar on the 1891 census, I'm sure that the first letter of the surname is a C and not a G.

Re the Ellen Beatrice Vinanea who married Cyril in 1883.

1871
RG10/4004 folio 69 page 18
11 Lownds Street, Hulme, Manchester (ecclesiastical district St Pauls)
Stephen, 33, waiter, born Manchester
Mary, 34, Liverpool
John A, 10, Salford
Mary E, 9, Salford
Agnes A, 7, Hulme
Ellen B, 5, Hulme
Although the surname is indexed (on A...) as Vinanea, it actually looks on the page as if it's written as Vin'anea.
Next census page, RG10/4004 folio 70 page 19, indexed as Vinaner,
Stephen W, 3, Hulme
Alice M, 1, Hulme
Again the surname looks to have been written Vin'anea.

(Stephen's father, another Stephen, was born in Italy according to the 1861 census.)

And am I the only person who can see how Ciantar can get corrupted into Cranton by bad writing?
And Ciantar is a Maltese name.Or at least a name that occurs on Malta.

Pam

[*bunty*]

What if they simply anglicised their name in order to get away from sounding 'foreign'? It is a possibility.

[Pam Downes]

What if they simply anglicised their name in order to get away from sounding 'foreign'? It is a possibility.

That was the other thought that occurred to me.
2009, and hopefully the 1911 census, isn't too far away. Think I might be inclined to put this one on hold till then, as Cranton was in use in 1915 when Cyril married, though when Beatrice M G married Samuel O SAMUELS (full marks to his parents for originality on his name ) in September quarter 1923 she married as Ciantar.

Jayne -
Two more little snippets re Ciantar found on FreeBMD.
Death registration June quarter 1905 Chorlton 8c 479
Paul Galea CIANTAR aged 39

Death registration December quarter 1919 Chorlton 8c 798
Peter A CIANTAR aged 0
Peter born the same quarter, Chorlton 8c 1384

Pam

[Jayne]

Thanks Pam - I'm thinking all this lot has more than a snippet of possiblilty.
I'm with you, I think CRANTON could easily be made from CIANTAR and I reckon being
Maltese was not a great thing to be in Manchester at that time, I recall a certain stigma even when I was growing up many years later. Maltese people weren't popular - don't ask me why!
What fills me with hope is that one of these people married a SAMUELS and that is a fact.
One married a CLEGG - but I think she was younger and the name could possibly have been changed by that point.
Thank you - you've opened up my brick wall brilliantly, given me lots to play with.
Jayne

[Astoria]

I think there was an Italian connection somewhere back in the thread, Malta is a stones throw - ish - from Sicily, might be worth considering.