Philip, Hockliffe is on the LDS IGI (www.familysearch.org) for the entire period. There are only two MERIDALE/MERRIDALE in Hockliffe during that period, both Johns. John MERIDALE chr 22 Mar 1824 son James & Ann John MERRIDALE chr 23 Jul 1826 son Thomas & Mary No William in all of Bedford. In the 1800s most are non-comformist entries. No other children for James and Ann but quite a few for Thomas & Mary. James and Thomas seem to be brothers, one chr in Chalgrave and one in Hockliffe, children of John and Mary. Checked Buckingham also, still don't find William. In my experience in this area, there are lots of gaps in families that were non-conformist. Charlotte