Thanks Wimsey I do know all about William being in several census returns in Dudley, its just that 1841 was my first sighting of him,
I was just amazed by it as it seemed so strange that he appeared there, As I only know his father was named Charles Rankin, also a tailor, although they both came from somewhere in Scotland, his father could also be somewhere else in England, through work, that is why it has een so frustrating for me, as I'm sure family history is for thousands of people researching theirs