I wonder if anyone has any connection to this family......... John SHERVILL (I have found more than 30 different spellings for this surname!) All I know about him is that his occupation was 'RN Seaman.' His daughter was Mary Ann born in Portsea/Portsmouth/Southsea around 1815. I am struggling to find siblings or her mothers name. I believe that she had a sister Elizabeth who was a witness at her marriage. (Elizabeth SHERVILL married John UDY in 1849, Gosport). In 1836, Mary Ann married Benjamin POLAND at St Marys Portsea. Their chidren were: Sarah Ann POLAND born 1838, Portsea Mary POLAND born 1839, Portsea Elizabeth Jane POLAND born 1841, Alverstoke Benhamin POLAND born 1845, Gosport Benjamin (senior) died in 1845. In 1848 Hannah POLAND (my gggrandmother) was born. There is no fathers name on her birth certificate. Subsequent children are: Samuel born 1850 Eliza born 1852 Elizabeth Jane Fletcher POLAND born 1854, died at 2 weeks old Martha born 1856 Rosina/Jane born 1857 All above born Portsmouth using the surname POLAND but later FLETCHER. In the 1851 and 1861 census, Mary Ann, widow, has a lodger, Charles FLETCHER who is 'married'. Mary Ann and Charles FLETCHER eventually marry in 1868. By 1864, Hannah FLETCHER had run away with the circus. At the age of 16, she married my gggrandfather James SEDGWICK, a travelling showman, in Lambeth. I wuld love to hear from anyone with any connection... Regards, Elaine