Iain Perhaps the link is actually in Sussex. Maybe Ann was cook for a family who had Dorset connections, and Stephen and Ann met "by chance" in Sussex. Jon Baker -----Original Message----- There is one thing which might have a slight bearing - someone offered that his wife might have been in service in the area of Hinton Martell. She, (Ann ELDEN) was a cook in Sussex in 1851, but I haven't been able to connect her with Dorset.