Whilst of no direct help, one of my Gover ancestors left Dorset in the 1840s and moved to Norfolk from where his large family spread down into London. Rumour has it that Manoah walked there and found work on the railways. As I have built my tree, it is amazing to see the massive migration of people from the southern counties to the midlands and the north as the huge depression following the end of the Napoleonic wars, etc. My Vincent ggggrandather ended up in Sunderland (from Melcombe Horsey) and my wife's Dando and Burchill lines both moved from Somerset to The Black Country. Lots of people emigrated to the Colonies and it is hard to imagine the upheaval in village life between 1830 and 1860. In the 1841 census, there were dozens of Vincents in Dewlish, and by 1891 the name had almost disappeared. It may be that he just left to find work? Good luck, Malcolm -----Original Message----- From: dorset-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:dorset-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of IHPARSONS@aol.com Good evening, list! A big 'Thank you' to everyone who made suggestions about Stephen, a Dorset Ag. Lab, who went to Norfolk and there wooed, married and had a daughter in the 1850s. There were some interesting remarks, but nothing which could pin down the reasons for his making so long (and arduous) a trip in the middle of the 19th century. He doesn't seem to have been in the army, there was no railway activity in Banningham at that time and nothing has suggested that he might have been sent as a representative of his Dorset employer. 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. Iain, in Brampton, Cumbria.