Thanks, Peter I hadn't heard of this and did a quick search but only two entries came up in Ashton both for Townsend although the inclusion of the s is a frequent error. The earlier marriage is a possibility but there is no subsequent birth. I will try a few more refinements. Cheers John -----Original Message----- From: Peter R Booth Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 12:56 AM To: John Townend Subject: Re: [NTT] unusual middle names John, Have you tried Lancashire Online Parish Clerk? http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Search/indexp.html Just a thought. Peter