On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 09:49:04 -0000, Paddy Buckley <paddy.buckley@lineone.net> wrote: > I think I may have finally found the 1708 burial record of an ancestor. > She had been indexed on Ancestry.co.uk as Mad Mary Cooke. A close look > at the original entry showed that it was Mad. Mary Cooke. I am guessing > that the abbreviation was for Madam, which I have never come across > before in a family history context. Has anyone else seen such a use in > a parish register? Hi John, There is an example of Madam being used in a Somerset parish register on the following web page concerning burials at St. Andrew's, Wivelliscombe: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pbtyc/H_m_w/Wiv/Bur/Y.html Elizabeth YEA, who was buried in 1697, was described as 'the daughter of Madam'. On a web page about the the Butcher Family of Merriott near Crewkerne, there is reference to the 1726 baptism of Henry, son of John & Madam Mary Rodbard: http://www.merriottfamiliesgenealogy.net/butcher.htm On this page there is also reference to the 1744 burial of Jno Rodbard, Esq. Looking further afield, there is an 1682 reference to Madam Mary Harbertt wife to Wm Harbertt Esq in the Parish Registers of Saint John's, Cardiff. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=48170 Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com