Keep Hitting Brickwalls

[Bunbury125]

Hello I have been doing family history for some time now on and off. I guess my problem is a common one in that sometimes I seem to get on in long strides if not quite leaps and bounds and sometimes I just cannot seem to get anywhere.
I have solved some problems, which was encouraging and also taken some wrong turns because it was easy. I am however learning to be cautious and try very hard not to assume or leap to conclusions I try not to add to the tree until I'm as sure as I can be from the evidence.

[christanel]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums.
I am sure that there is no person who can say they haven't come a cropper at some point in their research, especially in their early years of this fascinating/obsessive hobby.
If you are needing help with a pesky ancestor just choose a suitable forum. tell us all you know and what it is you need to know and it won't be too long before help arrives.
Christina

[Bunbury125]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums.
I am sure that there is no person who can say they haven't come a cropper at some point in their research, especially in their early years of this fascinating/obsessive hobby.
If you are needing help with a pesky ancestor just choose a suitable forum. tell us all you know and what it is you need to know and it won't be too long before help arrives.
Christina

Thank You. I aim to do just that. It is fascinating isn't it.

[Bunbury125]

Sorry I'm sending this to you as I can't find out how to do a general post as you would on facebook or other forums.
Do you think you could share it round.
Many Thanks.

Hi
I am at a bit of a brick wall trying to find Ralph Allen whose occupation (as listed on his daughter's marriage certificate 1838) was Pilot.
She was Mary Jane Allen who married in Leicester. She (1851 &1861 census) is listed at being born at sea c1808.
I realise that Ralph may not have been a Pilot at that time,. He might have been in the navy for example or they might have been travelling. I understand from my reading that Pilots were skilled sailors and usually had in depth knowledge of a particular stretch of water and were often self employed. I assume it's equally possible that he worked on canals and rivers.
I cannot find a likely candidate in Leicestershire which was my starting point. I don't know his wife's/wives name(s) and Mary Jane's baptism/birth seems to have been unrecorded so tracing him through her is difficult.
Mary Jane at the time of her marriage lived in Talbot Lane in Leicester. In 1851 a Thomas Allen (b1788 Northamptonshire ) lived in Talbot Lane but his parents did not have a child called Ralph as far as I can tell on find my past.
I know what happened to Mary Jane and her descendents( of which I am one) but Ralph is a bit of a stumbling block.
So to summarise
I am guessing Ralph was born around 1770.
He may have been in the Navy or army or just acquired enough skill to make a living as a pilot in 1838. (The marriage certificate doesn't say deceased so I assumed he was still alive at that time).
His daughter thinks she was born at sea in 1808 ish (age on census does not quite tally with marriage certificate but censuses not 100% accurate in that regard) could have been up to 1810 or later. Or she could have been illegitimate and "at sea" was some kind of euphemism.
There are recorded marriages for Ralph Allen but he may have been married more than once and I don't know enough about him to choose one marriage over another.
He may have had a brother or cousin who lived in Leicester.
So that's it. Is there a way to find him? Has anyone found him or shall I say it's a dead end?
Regards
Bunbury