I have come to a halt on my maternal line.
I have at least 3 census sources which say she, Charlotte Craven (the name she died with) was born about 1841 in Williton, Somerset. She was also listed as Charles on other sources...
On the 1881 census, a few of her older children have the name Heulett. On the 1891 a few have changed their name to Craven. But on the 1871 census, the surname is spelt Halatt. One of her childrens birth and marriage source spells it Hulett. This Child was born in Pavenham, Bedfordshire, so I expect they lived here at some point.
So after searching variations of charlotte (charlott charlett) and heulett/hulett/hulatt/halatt/hewlett/, I found no birth matches at all. So I concluded she must have married quite young during the 1860s. I found one match, in Bedfordshire for a "Charlett" from Somerset in the 1861 census, married to a Joseph Hulatt.
Unfortunately, I found a lot of variants and I cannot pinpoint her maiden name or her family in Williton on the 1851 Census because of this. It feels like I have ground to a halt and I've only gone back just under 200 years!
Anyone got any tips to improve my search techniques, (or even any leads) ? I can't seem to source anymore hints either, probably due to others also getting stuck here and giving up.