Dear all, I am descended from Mary FLOWER, baptised in Chewton Mendip, Somerset in 1823. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth FLOWER, and I have had great difficulty identifying them. The 1841 census shows the family living in Nedge, John aged 35 and Elizabeth aged 30. However these ages are clearly rounded down as their first child, Eliza, was born in 1819 and it's therefore more likely that they were both born c.1795-1800. John died before 1851, so all I know about him is that he was born in Somerset. Elizabeth lived into the 1880s and later censuses show her birthplace as Chewton Mendip, around 1799. John and Elizabeth's children were: Eliza (1819), James (1821), Mary (1823), William (1826), George (1828), Edwin (1831) and Ann (1834). I have found no trace of their marriage on FreeReg or the IGI, though I realise that not all Somerset marriages are on these sites as yet. I have found a marriage for John Flower and Elizabeth Flower in St Nicholas, Bristol in 1816, which is tantalising. Only one John and Elizabeth Flower were living in Bristol (Shirehampton) in 1841, and later census records indicate that this John would've been too young to marry in 1816. So maybe the St Nicholas couple were my ancestors? The only drawback with this theory is that there is no trace of a baptism for Elizabeth Flower in Chewton c. 1800. John's origins are also a mystery. His gravestone indicates that he was interred in Emborough, which perhaps indicates a family connection to this parish, and indeed a John Flower was baptised in Emborough in 1798, son of George and Betty. However, an old family tree I have seen shows George and Betty with a son called George born just 8 months before John was baptised, and I have a feeling that George and John were the same person, i.e. he was baptised John but later renamed George. This tree was compiled by a descendant of George, and while no sources are provided I suspect George's birth date might come from a family bible. There was also a John baptised in Chewton in 1797, but he corresponds with the burial of a John Flower in Chewton in 1820, aged 22. No wills seem to be available to provide any further clues. John and Elizabeth's daughter Ann married a man from Timsbury, and I know that a lot of Flowers lived there. So perhaps my John came from there originally. A John Flower was baptised in Timsbury in 1805, son of Josiah and Ann, but unless he was baptised when several years old, he would be too young to be my John. Another point worth noting is that John and Elizabeth's daughter Mary married Thomas CURTIS, and they named their second son Henry, which was not a name used greatly by the Curtis family. They could've just chosen the name on a whim, or it could be a significant name in the Flower family. I have a feeling that I'll never find a marriage for John and Elizabeth, or find out where they came from, but any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome. Regards Mike