[Finally .] Throughout the Censuses different birthplaces are given for these men - but they are all in villages/townships in the Congleton/Macclesfield area. And they all gravitate to Liverpool. There would appear to be a strong family connection but it's difficult to prove through PRs and Censuses alone. I have not checked Trade Directories or Newspapers. Now the 'wild possibility'. At the end of the 18thC there was a lot of traffic between the Biddulph, Staffordshire and Congleton/Macclesfield areas. There is a marriage between a Thomas BROUGH and a Judith COPLAND on 6 Nov 1798 in St Lawrence Church, Biddulph. There is a burial of Judith BROUGH aged 46 on 20 May 1823 in the same church. No baptisms of this couple are recorded, I suspect for the same reasons that I gave above. This may or may be not worth exploring further. Hope this all helps. Ruth