RootsChat.Com

Yes, they do! They obviously took their religion seriously whichever route they chose to follow. I've just discovered that Rev. Christopher Stock's father, John, who was Rector before him in Bromsberrow, apparently stepped down from his post having changed religion in mid-stream, and became preacher for the non-conformist community there. Now that I didn't expect!

Thomas's father "Stephen Stock of Colford (sic), chirurgeon," was a Protestant as he was one of those men who took the Oaths and Allegiances to King George in Gloucester, in January 1715. This may explain the difficulties in finding records for this family. Stephen also seems to have been involved in an adultery case in 1718/19.

At this stage, Cas, any snippet of information is useful - I found a precis of Henry's Will in Gwent Archives, but had no death date for him, so thank you for that.

Thanks, Capetown. That's part of the assumption that I was working on with John and Esther, as he subsequently gave a daughter of his that name. The Walls attended Chapel Green Meeting House like the Brownes, which is why I am pretty sure that John Browne Wall was named for his father's business partner. The Brownes weren't terribly imaginative name-wise on the whole, sticking with John, William, Samuel, Hannah, Mary, Sarah, etc, until quite late on. Part of the problem also, is that I have no idea who John's father William married, or when - he pitches up in Bath as a peruke maker/hair dresser in the early 1760s and there is never a mention of a wife - and up until now, John appeared to be the only known child. Non-con records, generally, are a bit of a nightmare to track down, and not helped by the Honiton fire in particular, as all the records that might have been able to confirm other siblings appear to have been destroyed.

Capetown, your posts help immensely, as they've either confirmed or strengthened evidence gathered by David and Ciderdrinker. It's beginning to look very much as if Esther was a Browne before her marriage, rather than a Collier/Carpenter. I had a look at the 1841 census this morning and, as you said, it has an "N" in the "Born in County" column and then the tick in the other column, which is definitely a bit confusing. Does it indicate that she was born in Scotland or Ireland, or was the chap who went through the census forms afterwards just noting the "N" so he could run his eye down the page and tot up how many people were born elsewhere? I would have expected either an "S," an "I" or an "F" (as was done further up the page) there, rather than a tick, if it was the former case.

I've found a marriage for Esther's daughter Esther (b. March 1795) to one Robert Fletcher in 1813, and most helpfully it lists the witnesses: John Wall (could be either father or brother, but I would guess father, given that Esther was only 18), M.A. Wall (which would be her elder sister Mary Ann, b. Sep 1785), and Sophia Walls [sic] (b. Dec 1798), another sister who is, of course, living with Esther in 1841.

I'd kill for an obituary for John Wall, the tea dealer, because they usually provide a lot of helpful details, but so far I've drawn a blank, though not for lack of looking. David, do you have any idea how much it costs to order wills online from Bristol Archives. The website itself doesn't give any idea of prices, but I suppose that's because it depends on how many pages the copy runs to.