Charlotte Clay

I don't know why this lady should bother me, but she does. She is the daughter of my great-great grandfathers sister Charlotte Merchant, born of her marriage to Charles Clay. Why should I care what happened to her? She is not a direct relation, but I can't get her out of my mind, because she was born in 1879 (ish), and her parents both died in 1895, when she was still a teenager. For a long time I thought it was because she was an only child, but now I find that she has got brothers and sisters, some of whom have families.

I thought that I had her successfully married off to Ezekiel Parry, but now I find that this is Charlotte Elizabeth Clay, born about 1882 and born somewhere else, and her parents have different names. That eliminates that route.

So at the back of my mind I wonder whether this C.E.Clay is a cousin of the one I am interested in, or not.  I am not going to go down that investigation - life is too short.

And at the back of my mind is the thought that perhaps I am not even looking at the correct family at all, as in the 1871 census Charlotte Marchant is a servant in Gravesend.

Proof of events back 140 years is so hard to find from the environs of my computer. I guess I need to go to Grays Essex and look at the archives.

Perhaps I can find another way around it. I'll keep wasting time on it. I can't leave her alone.