Should I give up if I can't find my ancestors?

If you can't find your ancestors, don't give up. Coming up against brick walls is an occupational hazard in the world of genealogy and can be incredibly frustrating. There are many reasons why you can't find ancestors in your research. But on a positive note, it is one way that you can hone your research skills and definitely best to view the brick wall as a problem not yet solved. 

An example of this comes from my husband's family tree, in particular his paternal great grandparents, whose origins eluded us for some years. In fact his great grandfather still exists behind a smoke screen.
In this blog, I'm concentrating on his great grandmother, whose name is given as Elizabeth Matthews on her son's birth certificate. The next logical step is to locate her marriage record, which should have a record of her father's name. Alas no such record has been found, despite years of searching.

My husband's grandfather was Charles Thomas Blight Stethridge, his birth being recorded in Truro, Cornwall on 3 October 1871. Charles's life is well documented and my husband has real life memories of his grandfather, as do other relations.

Charles's  father was Thomas B Stethridge, for whom there is little documentary evidence to cover the early part of his life. He appears on the 1871 census, as well as on the birth certificate and marriage certificate of his son Charles. Then in later life, when the family had returned to Cornwall from South Africa, he appears on the 1901 census. There is also documentary evidence that he was widowed, re-married and then died 3 weeks after his second marriage. 

Charles's mother was Elizabeth Matthews, but I have never found a marriage between Stethridge and Matthews. Charles was given a middle name of Blight, an unusual name but this could also be the maiden name of a female relative, given to ensure the name is carried forward. Likewise, I can't find a connection between the names of Stethridge and Blight.

The bottom line is, I can find no record of Thomas being born when and where he has stated on official documentation later in his life. 

The name Stethridge is not common, although lots of similar names appear in Cornish ancestry. They may be separate names or errors in transcription when being prepared for indexing. My focus now is on the surname Sturtridge, which is more numerous in Cornwall. I am also utilising DNA data to try and crack this case. I remain positive that the answer is somewhere.