YorksClare wrote:Thank you both!
I need to be more lateral in the way I search for things, clearly. That's two classic problems in one small family sample - a person who uses several different iterations of her name, and a returns officer who cannot spell properly.
I had thought that the searches would have found Wray when searching for Ray, because so much other random stuff turns up. And usually the first names would not have been a problem because I speculatively search for marriages using surnames, though without a spouse surname I would have been posting yet another brick wall...
Interesting that George Wray was boarding in Chapel Allerton in Leeds. That's fairly near where my partner lives now. If that is the right relative then it makes everything feel so much more connected.
more than likely it will be the accent that make the name sound different we come accross this quite often