Hi Angela > I have a question re people born in Shalfleet / Calbourne . For some > reason all those I have born in either of these two places can't make up > their mind where they were born. Some appear as Calbourne , others > Shalfleet , some Freshwater , some Brooke , some Ningwood some > Hamstead... I've had this trouble too! I've largely put it down to several towns/villages having the same name as parishes. So when somebody says "Shalfleet" do they mean the village or the parish (particularly on official documents as opposed to casual conversation)? For example, I have people whose records say they were born in Shalfleet, but who actually were born in Brook which is the other side of the Island from Shalfleet *village*, but Shalfleet *parish* extended from shore to shore including Brook Green. Similarly Calbourne, Freshwater, Newchurch, Arreton, etc. were big parishes as well as towns/villages. Whereas Cowes, as far as I know, did not have a large parish named after it. Paul Cutmore