Robert, and everyone else! Not sure if I really qualify as a sleuth, but offer the following as a response to Robert's challenge regarding William Oliver Lovelock's great-grandparents. I agree with Robert that John L and Elizabeth Hancock who married in Burbage in 1777 are not really credible candidates. So are there any real clues to alternatives? I think so. a. Wootton Rivers Census Returns give us: 1841 - Elizabeth Lovelock aged 50 1851 - Elizabeth Lovelock aged 61 born in Burbage 1861 - I have not found her 1871 - Elizabeth Lovelock aged 84 born Wootton Rivers b. The Wootton Rivers Burial Register records Elizabeth's burial on 21 September 1872 aged 85. c. The Preshute Marriage Register records the marriage of John Lovelock and Betty Hillier, both of Savernaque Park, on 10 August 1813. d. The Burbage Baptism Register records the baptism of Betty Hilliard, the daughter of John and Olive on 11 May 1788, and the baptism of Betty Hilliard the daughter of John and Mary on 2 January 1791. Further argument for the defence: a. Elizabeth was a lodger in the Jordan household in 1851 and would therefore, presumably, have been consulted about her place of birth. I suggest Burbage would be her personal declaration. b. In 1871 Elizabeth was living with her daughter Harriett and son-in-law George Smart who may well have answered on her behalf. In any case Wootton Rivers was given as the birthplace for the whole family. c. Why Preshute? Well, why not? It is no further from Savernaque Park to Preshute than it is to Burbage. The two could well have been in service in the Park, and Preshute was a popular place for marriages for reasons I've not yet seen explained. Remember that Richard Lieflock, who in my case started all this, married Mary Head at Preshute in 1706, yet they both lived in Easton and Easton certainly had an incumbent at the time. Oh, and as Robert said, I could find no other John L/Elizabeth marriage at about the right time anywhere else! d. In the Burbage Records the names Hillier and Hilliard are often interchangeable. If the Burbage origin is true, but Betty Hillier is the wrong girl the Burbage records provide seven other possibles baptised between 1786 and 1790. Since this all started from Robert's record of the marriage of William Oliver on 2 August 1915 which included the information that he was a widower, you may wish to note that the GRO records include the marriage of a William O Lovelock in the January-March quarter of 1900 in the Pewsey RD, which covered Wootton Rivers. The only likely-to-be-relevant death I have recorded from the GRO records is that of a Sarah Lovelock aged 32 in the January-March quarter of 1909 also in the Pewsey RD. Question: do I gather from the fact that the Watchfield marriage entry records no place of residence for William Oliver's second wife Anna that she was "of this parish"? If so, isn't it interesting that William's brother Alfred John also married a Pocock, Florence Ethel, whose father was, like Anna's, named David, but that the marriage took place in Wootton Rivers where both Alfred and Florence resided? So, does this constitute sleuthing or the scattering of red herrings? Can I take this opportunity to open up an issue that has frustrated me for years? Does anybody have any idea what happened to the nine children of John Lovelock and Jane Choules who married at Great Bedwyn on 28 February 1837? I can track one or more of them in the 1841 - 1871 Census Returns, but have no idea if any of them married. There are two possible marriages in the Hungerford RD but I know not in which village or town, and one possible death also in the Hungerford RD. I am amazed that after 12 years I have still not come across anybody who can trace a descent from one of the nine. Why the particular interest? Because John was one of my great-grandfathers. Regards to all Graham ----- Original Message ----- From: Robert Sterry <rsterry@zip.com.au> To: <LOVELOCK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: 06 November 2000 03:22 Subject: Lovelocks in Oxfordshire