Kevin, Talking of strange findings. You're in luck. There are two submitted trees on Rootsweb for much of this family. One has many generations of the Northwood family, the other has a similar number of generations or the Downing family. So you get both branches. I've shared data with one of the submitters Warren Loxley over many years and found his research to be very accurate. Peter

Peter, Firstly thanks for the information. The NORTHWOOD line is not on one of the direct lines I am researching - However, I have them back to the Mid 1700's. The reason I am doing work on the Northwood's is because it would appear ( from another researcher who has proven reliable on other parts of the family) that George Northwood married Katie SUMMERFIELD and the Summerfields are on one of my direct lines. Katie is the product of a marriage between two Summerfileds (2nd Cousins) her father being Philip George Summerfield (born: 1860, Maulden) and Martha Summerfield (born: 1859, Maulden) and is bioth my wife's: 1st Cousin 2x Removed and 3rd Cousin 2x Removed. Given that the above is not an isolated case with the Bedfordshire side of the family I decided many moons ago to not just research the direct lines but also look at the relationships between the different families. I no longer think of a family tree but rather a family shrub with lots of off-shoots and more then the occasional crossing branch. Regards Kevin