Can anybody shed any light on this enigma which concerns Robert Kerruish of Ballafayle, Maughold.

I have a James Kerruish b 1854 Maughold. He married Elizabeth Tate in 1881 in Kirk Michael and his marriage record gives his father as being one Robert Kerruish, a farmer from Maughold.

I have been tracking James back through the census record. In 1881 he was lodging in Michael where he married a few months later. In 1871 I found him under Vessels. In 1861 I found him in Maughold, but not in the same household as Robert Kerruish.

He is staying with his grandparents, Robert Kermode aged 67 and his wife Isabella aged 78. There is another grandson, John Creer (12) and and unmarried daughter, Isabella Kermode (40) at the same address.

The entry is on the same page and adjacent to the entry for Robert Kerruish, his wife Isabella and their children. Am I correct in taking thios to mean they are neighbours?

However this spinster daughter puzzles me. In 1891 she ends up living with James and Elizabeth and seems never to have married.

But it is implausible that Robert and Isabella Kermode would have two daughters both called Isabella and this suggests to me that Roberts wife Isabella is not a Kermode and is not James's mother.

So my question is this. Does anyone have any information about whether Robert Kerruish had an earler marriage, to a daughter of Robert and Isabella Kermode? Or is there in fact another Robert Kerruish running a farm close to the one at Ballafayle that I didn't find in the census? OR has Robert been a naughty boy.

Any suggestions would be most welcome

Many thanks.