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? Mrs. was often used for the wife of a vicar or a doctor. I have seen newspaper reports such as "The Lady ----- of John Cooke Esq was safely delivered of a daughter" where John Cooke was a high ranking barrister in the Inner Temple and always referred to as Esq in the period 1690-1710. He may not have been granted a Coat of Arms. John Buckley