He may have been either parish clerk, or a churchwarden. Several of these in my HAREWELL collection. The churchwardens would set out the hymnals, ring the bells etc. The parish clerk had other secretarial duties, and higher status as it meant he could actually read and write, quite unusual in those small villages at the time. By the way, a Thomas WINBOW shows up in Sherston Magna as a landowner in 1840... I can find the details if you are interested. One of my forebears rented land from him, and we just happened to notice his headstone in the church when we were visiting last year. Cheers... Ken M. >> The witnesses are William CARTER and John WINBOW. >> >> John WINBOW appears to be a witness at lots of Hawkesbury weddings. The >> question is why ?? >My ggfather was a parish clerk and he is a witness on nearly all the >weddings in his village. >Could this be the same?