Hi all I have been recently putting some of my Ellesmere connected families to Excel database and what struck me very clearly was how the folks of old often named their children in relationship to already born cousins. Whether this was done in regard to family tradition or an example of one-upmanship, who knows. Anyway, it does create a problem or two for family history researchers, especially those who rely upon only the IGI for their discoveries. If one is not alert, one can jump on the wrong marriage when these children grow up. Just taking my Boylin family of Ellesmere for example - I initially found these of that surname but suspected that the earlier rendition of the name on the Ellesmere parish registers was Byollin. This has proven to be correct. Anyway, my "argument" is that because early marriage records do not give the partner's parents, it is a black hole of slips that can be fallen into by the unwary genealogist. I append the following just to give some awareness of the situation. When you have two or three cousins of the same name being baptised in the same year, or three (even five) apart, you do need to be extra cautious when it comes to their adult marriage. Just look at this for possible confusion! 9 Sep 1749 Elizabeth d/o William & Mary Byollin of Ellesmere baptised 6 Apr 1750 Elizabeth d/o Thomas & Ann Byollin of Tetchill baptised 19 Oct 1751 John s/o John & Sarah Byollin of Cockshutt baptised 27 Dec 1751 John s/o William & Mary Byollin of Ellesmere baptised 24 May 1754 Thomas s/o Thomas & Anne Byollin of Tetchill baptised 18 Apri 1756 Thomas s/o John & Sarah Byollin of Tetchill baptised 1 Jan 1759 Mary d/o William & Mary Byollin of (Tetchill) baptised 29 Jul 1759 Mary d/o John & Sarah Byollin of Tetchill baptised 26 Dec 1759 Mary d/o Joshua & Sarah of Northwood baptised Remember, regardless of the townships mentioned, these are all of the same parish, i.e. St. Mary's, Ellesmere, so marriages later on would be usually carried out at Ellesmere. A dog's breakfast! What you need to do in this situation is first to check the burial registers of the parish, and sad as it may seem, one or other of the same name may have passed on in infancy so that could solve your problem. Unfortunately, there is not much else you can do with the early registers, but if you are into the mid 1800s the census will of course be a great help in separating these families, and indeed marriage registers of 1837 and above usually gave the parents. One other clue is that early marriage regs often gave witnesses, so a brother or a sister could be registered. Just something for you to think about. Most experienced researchers will be aware of this, though some beginners may not. Cheers Graham Melbourne