Hi Art Your Edward DOWNING is my Edward Downing. I went through the same dilemna and went so far as to query the Devon - l list a year or so ago, but never really proved anything. My approach was this: There are two Edward Downings baptised around 1700 in Buckland Brewer (a parish which abuts Hartland. One in on Feb 2, 1703/1704 to Thomas Downing and Elizabeth Downing and the other on December 31, 1700 to William Downing and Mary (?). I found no other Edward Downings baptised in Hartland, Clovelly, Buckland Brewer, Wooley, Morwenstow or nearby near that time. I did find an Edmund (I think in Hartland) who was illegitimate, but an Edmund is not an Edward. Now Edward Downing and Mary Heard had three children, as far as I know, and a Thomas was the second son. The first, Dominick, was named after Mary's father and they did not have any Williams. Based on an ASSUMPTION that they continued naming their sons after the grandads, I guess at Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton as the parents of Eddy. Let's talk, eh? Russ Brown in Vermont