Greetings to the Isle of Wight List: Am I the only one who feels like their ancestors wanted to give them a challenge in their research. Some of the ways in which this can be done is to give most of the sons in the family the same given name (Joseph, say) and make sure that they take wives having the same given name (Penelope, say). Then, it helps to move in next door to folks who have almost the same surname as yours, making sure that they witness all of your legal papers. With that introduction, let me say that I am researching the Bullock family in Isle of Wight Co, VA, and that I find records as follows: Thomas Dixon made his will in 1746 in which he named wife Penelope and daughter Penelope, the wife of Joseph Bullock. His will was witnessed by a couple of Bullard neighbors, Henry and Florence, who had a son Joseph Bullard, as will be mentioned below. John Garner made his will in 1761 in which he named daughter Penelope Bullock, and he used good judgment in not asking any of the Bullards to witness his will. I wish that I could say the same for Thomas Pinner, who in 1764 named daughter Penelope Bullock (who else?) and grandson Joseph Bullock, but he had his will witnessed by Joseph Bullard and Thomas Dixon. This Thomas Dixon was apparently the grandson of the Thomas who made his will in 1746, naming wife Penelope and daughter Penelope Bullock, but never fear for this Thomas Dixon also had a wife named Penelope. OK, maybe we are not in too bad a shape here, we have three Penelope's - Dixon, Garner, and Pinner - and all we need to do is match these up with Bullock men having wives named Penelope. First, we had the will of Joseph Bullock in 1750, who named wife Penelope. His will was witnessed by William Howell, so we need to see to whom he might have been related. Well, William Howell turns out to be the brother of John Howell, who made his will in 1732 in which he named daughter Penelope, so this appears to be a promising start. However, it is back to the drawing board, because when we look at the three witnesses to the will of John Howell we see Thomas Dixon, who had wife Penelope and daughter Penelope Bullock, who was indeed married to a Joseph Bullock. However, we also have Thomas Pinner, who likewise had a daughter named Penelope Bullock and a grandson named Joseph Bullock, which makes us think that Penelope Pinner might also have been married to a Joseph Bullock. Then, as to the third witness, Joseph Bullock, he must certainly have been married to one of the three Penelope's whom we have mentioned - Dixon, Garner, or Pinner - right? Maybe not, what about Penelope Howell, the daughter named by father John in 1732? She might have been about the only Penelope still available in Isle of Wight at that time, so we had these three men at her house to witness the will of her father, all of whom were later known to have wives and/or daughters named Penelope, so which Penelope went where? Second, we had the filing of the estate account of another Joseph Bullock in 1762, signed by wife Penelope. Third, we have the will of William Bullock in 1786 in which he named wife Penelope, but she was probably not a first wife, because we have a deed of 1737 signed by William Bullock and Eleanor Bullock. Also, William Bullock named a granddaughter as Eleanor Goodson, who had earlier in 1777 been named as the daughter of Joseph Bullock, along with another Penelope Bullock, of course. While the last wife of Joseph Bullock in 1777 was named Prudence, that name was not found among his seven daughters, which makes one think that she might have come along after first wife Penelope had died. Let me now sum up with a review. I have Penelope Dixon married to a Joseph Bullock, but I have three men named Joseph Bullock, with wills of 1750, 1762, and 1777, two of whom certainly had wives named Penelope, and I am suspicious about the third because of his daughter Penelope. Then, I have William Bullock of 1786 who had a Penelope wife, so somehow I need to decide which of these four men were married to: Penelope Dixon, Penelope Garner, Penelope Pinner, and Penelope Howell. Then, too, I have to decide if one of these might actually have been married to Joseph Bullard, as the Dixon, Howell, and Pinner families also had close associations with the Bullards and Bullocks. Sure hope that I will not need to drop Penelope Pinner, though, because I am very fond of that name. I have written this note in a rather light-hearted fashion, but please believe me when I say that I take this research seriously, so any information that would help me match up all of these men named Joseph Bullock with the right Penelope would be greatly appreciated, as well as help in separating the Bullocks and the Bullards in Isle of Wight. >From what I have written, one might think that early isle of Wight was overrun with women named Penelope, but this would be far from correct. In addition to those mentioned above, it is highly surprising that the Wills & Administrations of IOW: 1647-1800 by Chapman lists only eight, falling into three groups: First, there was Penelope Brown (b. 1715 or before, the daughter of Samuel Brown). She married William Lawrence, and they had daughter Penelope Lawrence (b. 1739 or before). It is my conclusion that Penelope Lawrence married Jesse Watkins, and they had daughter Penelope Watkins (b. 1757 or before). Second, there was a pair of Penelope's from the Neville family, who are very interesting to me. John Neville had a daughter Penelope (b. 1726 or before), and so did John Neville, Jr, whose will of 1740 was witnessed by Thomas Bullock. Third, there was another associated group of three, I believe, consisting of: Penelope Turner (b. 1740 or before), wife of a Whitley whom I have not yet identified; Miss or Mrs. Penelope Pope (b. 1760 or before), who in 1782 witnessed the will of Edward Pope, whose daughter was Sarah Bullock; and Penelope Pitt (b. 1760 or before), the wife of Henry Pitt. It takes a bit longer to sketch out their supposed connections, but anyone having an interest could drop me a note. I hope to get all of this right yet, but I started out this note thinking that I needed to place Penelope's named Dixon, Garner, and Pinner. Now, I have added Howell and Neville to the list, but potentially there is a need for all five to go with Joseph Bullock (3 of them), William Bullock, and Thomas Bullock. Before closing, might I ask anyone who knows of a Penelope in Isle of Wight before 1800, whom I have not mentioned, to please drop me a note giving that information. Thanks to those, if there be any, who have read along to the end of this note, which turned out to be considerably longer than intended. My best regards, Ron Bullock