> My g g grandparents, William Gray (father John Gray) and Sarah Maddison > (father Lionel Maddison) > Seeing this topic re-surfacing reminds me that it may be useful (or not, as the case may be!) to mention that sometimes one gets a surname where one particular first name is very often used with that surname. If that is a common one, then we would not notice, but if less common it does stand out to anyone trawling the records on a regular basis, as I do. Here we have a good example. Maddison families have used the first name "Lionel" for generations, and certain Lionel Maddisons were very wealthy and prominent in Newcastle society in the 16th to early 19th (at least) centuries. I am not saying that your family were necessarily closely related to the "prominent" Lionel Maddisons - they may just have heard of one and thought that, he being wealthy, it might not do them any harm if they were to use the name also (and perhaps a couple of generations later, persuade the then wealthy Lionel that they were related!). Alternatively, they could be descended from a younger son of a yonger son etc, a branch of the Maddisons which had inherited nothing from their early days apart from the first name. Anyway, it might give you a line of enquiry you hadn't thought of! Geoff Nicholson 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU NBL/DUR family history research in depth by THE local expert. Record searching service: you name the records, I search them!