Many thanks once again, Mel, for looking this up. It appears that the story in the book of St. Bees School did have a foundation in fact then. Purely from IGI I see there was an Isaac Kitchen baptised at Gosforth 3 Oct 1790, son of Isaac. This would put him at age 17 in 1807 when he was said to be in the upper form of St. Bees and acting as the Headmaster/Vicar of Haile's deputy and 24 when he took up the curacy which seems right. Of course this particular Isaac may have died or followed another path. Presumably Isaac had progressed to another parish when Abraham Brown took over as curate at Haile. Jill > Further inspection of the Haile Parish Records shows that an Isaac Kitchen was the curate at Haile in the years 1814 to 1816 and he was succeeded by Abraham Brown in 1817.> > Mel>