Hi,I'm having a regular look over all my family and as ever I come to a number of brickwalls which I would love to sort out. I was lucky recently to find a marriage that I'd been looking for for years. However I would like to find the origins of my 5x great grandfather Joseph Ayton. I know an amount about him but there are big gaps. He was born about 1725 if his burial age is correct.. The first evidence I have of him is when he baptised his known eldest child John Ayton 29th Jul 1750 at Wolsingham. Joseph was married to a Mary. They lived at Holebeck Mill as Joseph was a miller. Holebeck Mill no longer exists but stood between Wolsingham and Frosterley on the southern side of the River Wear. Joseph and Mary had 11 known children before Mary died in 1779 at Wolsingham. According to "Records of Wolsingham" by Devey Joseph Ayton purchased pews in Wolsingham church and was a churchwarden and overseer of the poor.. A futher document in the book is a petition that Joseph Ayton sent to the Bishop of Durham wanting to be let off his debts on his mill. This document of 1801 states that Joseph Ayton was then about 75 years old and infirm being incapable of work to support his young family. The document states that he then had his second wife at home and 5 young children under the age of 11 who had been brought up with integrity and industry and with a strict adherence the the Christian faith. Joseph had married Mary Weston in 1786 and had 5 more children making 16 all told.. Joseph Ayton died in 1803 at Wolsingham but his burial entry does not give a parish of origin.Joseph does not appear to have been able to write but his children could.They spelt our name as Ayton although Aton and Hayton were used in the first baptismal entries in the 1750s. Obviously I would like to find where Joseph Ayton came from and would also like to find his first marriage.I haven't found this in Durham or Northumberland to date.There is a baptism in 1721 at Sedgefield for a Joseph Hayton which seems rather early. Any suggestions would be welcome. Yours John Ayton