Hi Kathleen,
Thanks for the reply.
In response to "ssssssoooo...died Susannah on the boat giving birth to Benjamin???", I wondered the same thing and some helpful people on ancestry assured me she did not, as they had access to the 'died at sea' records. Her death is also listed in Lanchester in 1885. What is really curious is that Benjamin's place of birth is listed as "Canada (Eng)" in both the 1900 and the 1910 census. In 1900 he was still with his family but he was a boarder in 1910. There must be a story there! However, in his draft record, he checked "native born" and in 1920 he is listed as born in Washington DC (which is scratched through). His wife was probably the reporter in this census. He died in 1934 and I can't find a census record for him in 1930.
Benjamin was the younger brother of my great grandmother Mary Isabel Hayhoe. What I'm really trying to find out is how and when she got here. This 1885 Canada thing seems to be a big clue but I can't pin it down.
Linda