Janet, Thank you for your comments on my possible scenario for the GREGORY family. Both Elizabeth and James GREGORY got married at the same church St Marylebone in Westminster and I am sure they are siblings. I have looked for baptisms in the "London area" without success but a needle in a haystack come to mind. If they were baptised there, however, the parents must have waited until after they had moved to London as Elizabeth and James are documented as having been born in Banbury. There is also circumstantial evidence that the parents did not move to London, as Emma WILLOUGHBY was baptised in Banbury and I have assumed the parents went to Elizabeth's mother to have the first child. I wonder if the lack of baptism records is due to the effects of the Stamp Duty Act of 1783. In 1783 the British government passed a stamp duty act to help pay for the American War of Independence. In particular a tax of 3d was to be paid on every entry in a parish register. The incumbent was empowered to collect this tax and entitled to keep a small proportion for his trouble. The tax was deeply unpopular and was finally repealed in 1794. I understand the act had the effect that some couples simply did not bother to baptise their children, so it is possible to encounter "missing baptisms" whilst the act was in force. Some of these children may be found being baptised "in a batch" after 1794 but in other cases baptisms are never recorded for them. Back to the drawing board!! Kind regards, Brian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janet Booth" <janbooth@dsl.pipex.com> To: <eng-banbury-area@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 10:26 AM Subject: Re: [BAN] New Member Seeking HelpwithWILLOUGHBYBaptisms/MarriageinBanbury Area > Hi Brian, > > There is a marriage (Oxfordshire FHS PR Transcripts of Banbury St Mary) on > 12 November 1794 of a William GREGORY, Servant Man, bachelor & Elizabeth > PEARSON, spinster, both of the parish. Witnesses were Ann PEARSON & John > GREGORY. > > There is a burial on 10 August 1799 of Elizabeth GREGORY, wife of William, > Labourer. BUT there are no baptisms to this couple at Banbury St Mary, > nor > any baptisms at Banbury Independent, Banbury Quakers or Presbyterian. > However, this William GREGORY looks to have remarried (as you say) on 25 > August 1801 at Banbury St Mary, he being described as a Labourer, widower, > to Elizabeth HAWKES, widow, both of the parish. Witnesses were William > BUTLER & Ann BUTTLER. > > Looking for a likely William & Ann BUT(T)LER, there is a marriage on 7 > October 1789 at Broughton of a William BUTLER to an Ann HAWTYN, both of > the > parish, but whether this is the correct couple, I don't know. I did look > for a marriage between a ? HAWK(E)S and Elizabeth HAWTYN or Elizabeth > BUTLER > (with variants on both surnames) but no luck either. Will keep looking. > > Your scenario certainly looks a possibility but until the baptisms of > James > & Elizabeth are found, unfortunately nothing can be proved. > > Janet