Andy, Do not rely on the IGI as there may be transcription errors. Try to check both the parish register and the bishop's transcripts if they are available. They are not always the same and there may be more information in them. Perhaps there is more than one person baptised with the same name in the same or neighbouring parishes about the same time. Not unusual with with common names.. Check out probate records to see whether there are any family wills that will point to the correct relationships. Also see Roy Stockdill's article http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html as there are many more sources. Frank Andy Leach wrote: > It's easy when the person is listed in the census, as you can cross-check them against age, place of birth, other members of the family, etc. However, when you go back to pre-census times, how do you make certain that you've found the correct person? I can find entries in IGI which match the name, age and place of birth - is this sufficient to assume I've found the correct person? I'm reluctant to jump to this conclusion for fear of it just being a coincidence. Thanks.