Before I give up, does anyone know the best way of researching a Doctor in the 18th century? I have been chasing my Samuel West for years. I have him in Fontmell Magna in the 1760s but have never found where he came from. There were a number of West families in the area but I cannot place him with any. I have now found one reference to him as Dr.West. This may a mistake or it may be an honorary title - his wife's brother was also referred to as 'Doctor' because he was an amateur medicine man. If, however, he was a qualified Doctor, how do I find out what he was a Doctor of, and where he gained his qualifications (presumably Oxford or Cambridge)? If he was a Doctor then I supposed he may have come from outside Dorset hence my lack of success in tracing him. His wife's family were fairly well off and lesser gentry and most of the children seemed to marry well, so it may well be that he did have a profession. Has anyone carried out research of this sort before? It makes a change from all my usual ag labs! (BTW the family had lost all their fortunes and lands generations before it got anywhere near me!) Helen Helen Jones, Weymouth, Dorset helen@melcombe.freeserve.co.uk http://www.melcombe.freeserve.co.uk