Yes,did always(or almost!Have not notes to hand)claim birth in Maltby-doesn't mean she WAS born there,of course.The family could have moved to Manchester,and she could have been born there instead.I remember finding William(1821)on the census,and his having stated that HE was born in Maltby.
I would be reasonably certain that these were both children of Thomas and of Ann Markham.
Thank you for all the facts you have sent me;I've not had time to read them yet.Will do so soon,and let you have comments,if any.
By the way,Elizabeth married John Holden in Manchester in 1849.The last census on which she appears is the 1891.By then she was a widow and living in Jordan Street,Manchester,with two unmarried sons;I'm not sure when she died.Although she was my grandmother's grandmother,my grandmother has turned out to be thoroughly untruthful-way beyond the usual family garbling,I'm afraid,and this has made the whole task a deal more difficult than it need have been!
A further possibility about Elizabeth which occurs to my nasty suspicious mind,is that she might have been an illegitimate child,and as her mother was now in another town,she could attribute paternity to anyone she wished! I note that the child next in age to Elizabeth could only just-barely-have been a posthumous child if he was indeed the son of your Thomas who died in 1826.
I wonder if it's ever going to be possible to make sense of all this?