But I diagress........ my problem: I have a John And Jean (Jane Walker) Stevenson in my tree. According to 1841 census John was 58 years old, (which put his birth @ 1783 there abouts....) they lived on Clyde St, Milton. He was a candlemaker (census had him listed as a labourer). My problem, I CAN'T FIND HIS BIRTH OR DEATH, or who his parents were. I checked on IG and they have him listed as marring Jean Walker on July 6, 1804 but they have his birth as 1779. I am looking for his parents, who I have no idea what their names are. SO, I'm stuck. Please help if possible, don't know where to turn from here. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thank you
Wanda
. Ok so you're sure he's on the 1841 but that tells you little...but id does tell you if he was born in county or Ireland or England. So where was he born? Don't get worried about the age as you've got to keep an open mind. Most folks drank from the fountain of youth and managed to grow ever younger as they aged (some due to the enumerator's rounding method but some from their own efforts 
) So don't worry about the age discrepancy right now. If you've thoroughly searched for a DC then it's very possible he died before 1855 which is too bad. Especially in Glasgow as there are no OPR burials for Barony even if SP ever does get them online (I know this one as I have some of my own lost in that horrible black hole) So without a DC you won't learn parent names. How about his wife? Did you find her DC? If it were after 1855 then it should state if she was a widow...which would only confirm that he was already dead and give you a closure point. I assume too that you've searched the 1851 census and found nothing? If they were found it would give you a better info regarding his occupation and also where he was born. You stated you knew he was a candlemaker. How did you come by this info?? So now if all the above has failed...how about children? Do you know of any? How about a naming pattern? Or any interesting middle names? All possible clues to point a finger towards an earlier generation of names. A last resort is to trawl around looking for anyone researching the same surnames and hope to find some connection. You never know when the information you lack is safely perched in someone else's tree limb. So there...after all that.....is there any hope? 
