A big thank you to Peter and Josephine. What a good idea of yours to seek the names of Mary Ann’s father in the records of Mary Ann’s marriage to William Kew, her second husband, where you both found the name John. Moreover, Josephine found that Wlliam’s father name was Moses Kew, something else I did not know. Moses and his wife Mary had 2 pairs of twins plus another child baptised in Winford between 1827 and 1834 but the William that married Mary Ann was not one of those recorded. Judging by the subsequent censuses William was born in 1821-2 but did not seem to have a fixed idea of where he was born, so presumably Moses, a labourer, did not settle in Winford until after about 1821. Moses was buried age 42 in Winford on15 Jun 1837 indicating that he was born in 1794-5. Somewhere I have a funeral card found among the effects left by my wife’s uncle. Moreover, a son of Mary Ann’s daughter, Elizabeth, was given the names William Moses. Moses Kew was probably the son of Francis and Ann Kew because they had a son Emmanuel baptised 24 Jul 1792 as did Moses and Mary on 03 Jun 1827. However, Moses himself seems to have escaped the currently available baptism records, something of a feature of this branch of the family tree. The John that was declared to be MaryAnn’s father when she married William Kew on 9 Dec 1844 is of even greater interest. When she married for the first time at Dundry, to Thomas Barn[e]s her abode was listed as Long Ashton. This was the home in 1841 and 1851 when he was 84 of a John Hasell who was baptised in Dundry 17 May 1867. FreeReg lists his marriage to Elizabeth Williams 4 Jan 1810 and the baptisms of 3 children of farmer John Hasell: Maria 1812, John 1814, and Harriet 1816, at Littleton a hamlet at the South end of Dundry parish, where Thomas Barnes and Mary Ann later farmed. Is it possible that John was the father of Mary Ann, legitimate or not, in about 1801? He would have then have been about 34 and was buried in Dundry on15 Mar 1859 age 92. It is worth noting that even if Mary Ann was illegitimate and even if she did not know her father’s name she might have given it as John Hasell when she married William Kew in 1844. The fact found by Josephine that William KEW and Mary Ann BURNS (sic) were married on 9th. December 1844 at St. Paul's Church, Portland Square, Bristol should not be taken to mean that one of them was truly resident there. The following list of marriages of N Somerset Hasells at St Paul’s Bristol was provided by a descendant of Elizabeth Hasell and George Weaver. Some of the witnesses were the same; Mary Ann Hasell herself was a witness twice, so she was no stranger to St Pauls Bristol. I have added the data on first marriage of Mary Ann which was at Dundry. 15 Apr 1821, Maria to William Frappel 31 Aug 1822 Mary to William James 11 Aug 1823 Martha to William Chard, witnesses William Hasell and Mary Ann Hasell 19 Apr 1824 Elizabeth to George Weaver, witnesses William Hasell and Mary Ann Hasell 1 May 1837 Harriett to Joseph Pool, witnesses William Hasell and Sarah Pool 27 Mar 1826 Mary Ann Hasell to Thomas Barnes at Dundry, witnesses William Hasell and Elizabeth Weaver. Bristol marriage was common among N Somerset residents. So the popularity for weddings at St Paul’s among the Hasells is not surprising and thus the fact that Mary Ann and William Kew chose to be married there does not indicate that Mary Ann’s parents lived in Bristol. The indications that Mary Ann acted as witness at other Hasell weddings and that Elizabeth Hasell reciprocated at Mary Ann’ own marriage, the record of the death of a Samuel Weaver February ? 1822 in her prayer book and the fact that she was listed as born Dundry in all censuses strongly suggest that Mary Ann’s origins lay with Hasells living near to Dundry. Here is the list of baptisms of children of John Hasell (and sound alikes) in all villages near Dundry Baptised name father mother surname abode Father occ 05 Jul 1812 Maria John Elizabeth HASELL Littleton 04 Sep 1814 John John Elizabeth HASELL Littleton Farmer 18 Aug 1816 Harriett John Elizabeth HASELL Littleton Farmer 24 Mar 1805 Ann John Mary HASELL 04 Jan 1807 William John Mary HASELL 19 Jun 1808 John John Mary HAZELL 26 May 1811 Hester John Mary HASSELL 21 Jan 1816 Hyram John Mary HASELL B Sutton Taylor 23 Nov 1817 John John Mary HASELL Sutton Taylor 27 Feb 1820 Martha Millard John Mary HASSELL B Sutton Taylor 13 Dec 1818 Caroline John Susan HASELL Labourer If this list is extended to cover a search using FreeReg for the whole of Somerset and the search is made for Mary Hasell+ rather than John, no likely candidates for the baptism of Mary Ann Hasell with father John found. The 4 most probable candidates are as follows but some families may have escaped FreeReg. Place Birth Baptism Name Father Mother Surname Abode Long Ashton 06Apr05 05May05 Mary Samuel Elizabeth HAZELL Chew Stoke 28Dec06 Mary William Mary HAZELL Stowey 10May06 Mary Thos Esther HASEL Chew M Chew Magna 09May08 03Nov26 Mary Ann Mary HASELL Chew M All the dates are from 1800 to 1826. Samuel and Elizabeth seem promising but surely if her father were Samuel, Mary Ann would have given this name when she married William Kew. I am sorry to be so long replying, the information you provided gave me a lot to think about. Again thank you. Tom