I am building my family tree and have a problem that, i hope, forum members maybe able to help me with.
My 4th great grandfather is a William Soley who in 1841 is located in Tongland Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.
His partner is Julie Ann Moran who he later marries in 1846 in Kirkpatrick Durham. They have 6 children (possibly 7) all born before they married - Maria, Jane, Samuel, Emma, Catherine, William (my 3rd great grandfather) all with the Soley or Solley surname - the reason for this being that William was in the 3rd (Kings Own) Light Dragoons until sometime before 1851 and the army frowned upon marriage in the ranks but Julie must have been recognised as a common law wife (enough for 2 of the children at least to be baptized in church).
My problem is trying to find William's ancestry - born between 1791 (on death cert) and 1801 (1841 census) or 1795 on 1851 census. I suspect that he could be from Middlesex because of the army connection. Julie seems to be from Ireland but her name varies from Morn to Moran to Morran - she says from Ramore Co. Kildare but Ramore is in Co. Cavan - so she is a bit of a mystery as well. I have yet to discover why William settled in Scotland after discharge from the army, but it could be through relatives - in the same area, Tongland nr Kirkcudbright, there is a Samuel Selly (turns out to be a mis-spell of Solley) b abt 1800 and a James Solly b1784 - so I need to discover Williams parentage to see if these others are related.
My apologies for the ramble - but William has not been easy, but he is fascinating. Thank You for reading.