I am trying to unravel a mystery concerning James Owen who was born in Newton in Makerfield to Ralph and Alice Owen on 1 Sep 1758. I have come up with an outline of his life based on church records but with one aspect that I can not reconcile. I initially thought he was married to Martha Norris at St. Mary the Virgin, Prescot 16 Aug 1781 and at that time both were living in Widness about 8 miles south west of Newton. They had two children christened at St. Helen, Ralph in 1783 and Mary in 1785 after which they moved to Haydock, a bit closer to Newton. They had 5 more children from 1787 to 1798 christened at St. Thomas, Ashton in Makerfield but one complication is that the christening records at both St. Helens and at St. Thomas gave only the father’s name so to this point, the only reference to James’ spouse was the marriage record from Prescot. >From 1803 to 1814 all three of James’ sons were married and were living in Haydock and in 1811 and 1819 two daughters died and were buried at St. Oswald in Winwick. This is where the confusion comes to light in that the burial record gives the parents of both daughters as James and Ellen not Martha. The following are the burial records for both James and Ellen that also indicate that James’ wife was Ellen and not Martha: Burial: 26 May 1822 St Oswald, Winwick, Lancashire, England Ellen Owen - Wife of James Owen Age: 65 Abode: Haydock Buried by: Gs. Chippindall, Curate Register: Burials 1813 - 1837, Page 190, Entry 1520 Source: LDS Film 1885711 Burial: 9 Mar 1834 St Oswald, Winwick, Lancashire, England James Owen - Age: 75 Abode: Haydock Buried by: Thos. J. Whittington, Curate Register: Burials 1813 - 1837, Page 451, Entry 3605 Source: LDS Film 1885711 I am rather confident that the Ralph Owen who was married at Winwick and raised a family in Haydock was the same Ralph that was christened at St. Helens. What I am not so sure of is whether the marriage of James and Martha is the correct marriage for the James Owen of Newton in Makerfield and if in fact it isn’t, where and when could James have been married and to whom?