Hello J Kesner & list, I am also looking for a William LAIDLER/LAIDLAW and of course any antecedents. My William was born around 1814, somewhere in Northumberland, possibly around Shotton in Kirknewton parish (or other possibilities further south), but he just gives "Northumberland" in the 1861 & 1871 censuses so he may not have been sure where he was born. I have been working my way through parish & non-conformist registers in that area but have not yet come across a family as per J Kesner's email, but will keep an eye out. Shepherds and hinds seem to have been quite mobile in the north of Northumberland, as I have noticed the same names pop in successive registers. As someone recently pointed out on the DUR - NBL list, if attached to a particular dissenting minister, some people were prepared to take their children quite a distance to be baptised and presumably at least occasionally to attend services. Do you have any more information about the Glendale/Ford family? I am very interested in any William LAIDLER/LAIDLAWs born around the 1780s, to eliminate or investigate further. My William's father could well have been born around then & the naming patterns of my William's children suggest that his own father was likely to have been called William . My William LAIDLER/LAIDLAW married Isabel(la) Whitehead, born in Scotland. I have not yet been able to find this marriage. His third son was called Joseph - he had seven sons & one daughter that I know about. By the way, I forget the correct name for the character, but I suspect the "p" in "Jepe" will probably in fact have been the now archaic character used for double "s". Regards, Ingrid, NZ