Hi Jean Why is it that people always seem to die a year or so before the 1851 census where a birthplace is given? Most inconsiderate of them. The John christened 1780 in Clifton was the son of John and Jane Cherry. There was a burial in Clifton on 25 Feb 1780 of John Cherry of Campton, followed by 14 July 1782 of Jane Cherry widow. So that particular John appears to have been orphaned at the age of two. I cannot see a burial that is obviously him. So what became of him? My ancestors were also from Clifton and the surrounding villages but if they moved to the next village that was as far as they went at that time. It’s always easier to prove who it couldn’t have been than to prove who it was! There was a John Cherry married in Wilstead/Wilshamstead, which is not far from Clifton, in 1802 who wasn’t christened in that parish. It might be interesting to see if the marriage entry states which parish he was from. Try posting on the Beds lookup request board on www.rootschat.com where I know there are people with the Wilstead parish register. If you are a believer in naming patterns then John’s first son was William, and there wasn’t a Jane to be seen amongst his numerous daughters, which is perhaps a pointer that it wasn’t the Clifton John. Did any of the Clifton John’s grandparents leave a will which might have named him? Check with the Record Office in Bedford at archive@bedscc.gov.uk to see if they did leave wills. Diddington is closer to Northamptonshire than it is to Clifton, and IGI entries for that county are pretty sparse so it might be that he was from there. But without any baptism index it’s difficult to prove. You might try a request on the rootschat look up board for Northants to see if there were any Cherry marriages in the east of the county say 1765 -1780 – there is a marriage index. If there were any marriages it might give you a better idea where to look for John’s baptism. You’ve done the obvious things with no success – I think you are in good company here as other researchers from Australia and the USA don’t seem to know where John was from either, judging by the trees on various online sites which all stop with John 1780. This is all fairly negative, but you might get lucky! But I think that the Clifton John is a big leap of faith without something more concrete. Hope this helps Regards David --------------------------------- Nouveau : téléphonez moins cher avec Yahoo! Messenger ! Découvez les tarifs exceptionnels pour appeler la France et l'international.Téléchargez la version beta.