Hi Paul, Thanks for responding. You said, "Common law marriages do not exist under English Law and it was only in the late 20th century that illegitimate children had any claim to inherit. The parish would not allow co-habiting although would force the father to support the child if he was known. In the cities incomers would not be questioned too closeley but in the villages there was no hiding." While they wouldn't have had a legal common law marriage, whether they had a relationship beyond an apparently ongoing sexual one I cannot say at this point. The historical laws about 'illegitimate' children in England are part of why it has been difficult for me to sort all these 'illegitimate' Evans children out as they legally had no parents, and so, for example, they didn't have to get a parent's permission when they joined the British Army while underage and their apprenticeship indentures were made by parish officers and churchwardens rather than by a parent. Thanks again, Liz Loveland