Hello, I have come to a halt with my BELL research. I am as far back as William BELL who lived at Escomb, but was not bapt/married or buried there. All I have on him are the dates of his children's baptisms. Child: William BELL Christening: 31 MAR 1729/30, Escomb, County Durham, Child: Elizabeth BELL Christening: 22 FEB 1730/31, Escomb, Child: Sarah BELL 14 JUL 1734 Escomb - died 1756 Escomb Child: Magdalen BELL 1736 Escomb Child: Mary BELL 24 JUL 1737 Escomb Assuming he came from one of the surrounding parishes, the most likely seems to be William BELL married Ann PEKEREL Auckland St Andrew 28 JUL 1717 they would seem to have had the following children bapt at Auckland St Andrew (from IGI) 1720-1745: Robert 14 Sept 1720 William 22 Feb 1723 Thomas 18 June 1725 Joseph Apr 1728 This fits well with a move to Escomb by 1729, and the name Joseph occurs in the next generation. However this is still just circumstantial evidence, and needs more definite proof. Hopefully once I have the burial of William I can start looking to see if he made a will. I can find no trace of the name PEKEREL, and wonder if it could be a version of PEVERELL, which is more common in the Auckland area? Can anyone connect to any of the above BELL children? The only ones that I know anything about are Elizabeth & Magdalen, who in turn both became the wife of Michael BULMAN! I am descended from Magdalen BELL. Regards, -- Helen Oram