Andrew Riding <[email protected]> asks [major snip] > I am completely confused as to how a man born in Selby into a sailing family could end up in Dewsbury as a clothier. It would seem that the only link between the two places is the canal. < While not impossible it is more likely (unless you have very solid evidence to the contary) that they are different people. So many people get muddled over different people with the same name that earlier this month I posted some horror stories on "Genealogy in Hertfordshire" under the heading "Right Name, Wrong Body". One example was of a hamlet of about 400 people where there were (over a relatively short time scale three men called George Seabrook who, between them, were married to four women called Sarah.) There were also some other George Seabrookes living within a mile or two who (as far as I know) never married a Sarah. At the period you are talking about (late 18th/early 19th century) many people were associated with chapels whose records have not survived - so there are no records available recording the births of children. It is very easy, in such cases, for an amateur family historian to look for the name in the IGI and assume than there is a link on the basis of the name alone - and generate a totally spurious ancestry. Chris Reynolds <[email protected]> If you want to know more about your Hertfordshire ancestors visit "Genealogy in Hertfordshire" at http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk where many of the enquiries are quickly answered.