[Phoenix]

I sometimes wonder how much we miss.

I was scouring newspapers for the surname Rayner in Brinton, Norfolk and found William Rayner being forced to pay maintenance for Georgeanna Nobes' illegitimate baby in January 1866.

William had married Amelia Colman in July 1865 (and their first child was baptised 28 January 1866)

Five years later, William was in Brinton (where he lived the rest of days, with family members as near neighbours) with Amelia. They only had one more child - William Alfred - who was apparently born in January 1871 but registered in the September quarter.

And Georgeanna's child? By 1871, Georgeanna was in service in London. No obvious sign of the child with its grandparents.

Then I found the inquest. 14 August 1867. William Nobes, a child under the age of two, accidentally drowned in a well.

I hope he was loved. I somehow doubt it.

Because he was illegitimate, he would not show up as William Rayner's son. And because this all happened between censuses, without newspapers I would have had no idea of his existence, but I feel his life must have had a profound influence on both Georgeanna and Amelia.