If anyone looks through the Wiltshire wills an discovers an additional reference besides a 1609 reference to a Robert Carpenter in Shalbourne please post your finding. From the 1608 document that I introduced the other day it would seem that the two Williams, possibly plus a relative named Robert, first arrived in Shalbourne in 1608. Another set of documents that I own is a very interesting manor survey of 1628ish. Basically the manor belonged to the infamous Seymour family and due to a death the property changed hands. A survey was in order. The interesting point in all this was that the survey noted all family members on the various properties, but only the two Williams are noted for the Carpenter property. Thus it would seem that Robert appeared with the two Williams, stayed for a time and left. It would seem also that the Carpenters did not make a permanent move to Shalbourne. Other family members were left behind somewhere else. William jr. may not have stayed in Shalbourne after the paperwork was completed. In 1608 he was just a baby. Also William sr. would likely have traveled to and from his main home to Shalbourne. Another point in the manor documents is that the property William rented from the Seymours was the legal minimum. In other words William had enough land for a kitchen garden. My suspicion is that he wanted just the house because he used it as a base for some other business. In another document a William Carpenter is owed money by a Great Bedwyn weaver (next town to Shalbourne). A point to remember is that William jr. is named in the manor documents because that would give the Carpenters property rights to the end of William jr's lifetime. Thus we can be sure William jr. was William sr's youngest child. More later. BC