Hi osprey
Thankyou so much for all that information. It has taken me a while to digest it all! I'm pretty sure you have found me the right marriage between William and Mary. It must have taken hours of digging.
No, I don't have a birth cert. for William and I have been unable, so far, to find dates of death for him or Mary. Their last child, Henry Thomas, was born 1861 so maybe his mother died in childbirth, or soon after. This would account for him being in an orphanage, poor little thing, particularly if his father was at sea. I wonder what happened to his siblings, especially Mary b1852 and her sister Elizabeth b1858.
William James Harries was born 03.10.1847, which fits with the baptism you have found, and his sister Mary was born 1852. Also, I have William as a joiner. The marriage between William Harries and Mary Morgan in 1846 seems to fit and the baptism in Llandeilo Fawr, Camarthenshire 12.10.1819 also sounds a possibility.
So it seems that Mary came from Llandeilo and William from not far away, possibly in Pembrokeshire as my husband's Aunt told me. Living at Pembroke Docks, aged 24, would also make sense of him ending up in Liverpool.
I can't thank you enough for all your help.
Joan