In a message dated 16/05/2007 16:24:32 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Ann Leighton married Walter Smith on the 6th March 1808 at Bishopwearmouth. Walter was a widow in the 1841 census and was born at Chatton, Northumberland in 1780. IGI have a possible match for an Ann Leighton born 27th July 1788 at Bishopwearmouth, parents Robert Leighton and Catherine Baxter. Would it be possible for someone to please confirm that these were Ann's parents and also trace her date of death in Bishopswearmouth between 1831 and 1841 ( last child aged 10 in 1841 census). Ann: The obvious way to trace the origins of anyone who married during the "Barrington Period" (1798-1812) is to seek the baptisms of any of their children, baptised before the end of 1812. The entry should give the names of the parishes of which each parent was a native (ie in which they had been born). If you have baptism dates for any children in or before 1812, then let us know, and their entry can then easily be read via the H M Wood transcripts. This illustrates the importance of using original records (or facsimiles of them), rather than the incomplete summary entries found in many transcripts and indexes. The "Original Indexes" index to all burials in Co Durham 1813-39 (now published by the NDFHS in their "Ancestral Indexes" series) mentions several Ann Smiths in Sunderland/Bishopwearmouth/Monkwearmouth 1831-1839. All can be eliminated because their ages do not "fit", wiht the exception of one where the age is not given. That one referes to an Ann Smith of Charles Street, Bishopwearmouth, buried at Sunderland on 2 July 1835. Of course, that index does not cover 1840/41. Geoff Nicholson