IGI records show that JOHN ANSTED married HANNAH WILKINS on 6 Nov 1809 in Tilehurst. Another JOHN ANSTED (?) married ANNA HANINGTON (could be 'Harrington'?) in Reading on 6 Jan 1788. In the 1841, 51 and 61 census years a John and Hannah (in 1851 Hannah becomes Johannah) Harrington lived in Theale.
One possibility - I think - is that the older John may have been the illigitimate son of Anna Hanington/ Harrington and yet when he married, his surname had become 'Ansted' as that was his father or step-fathers name. Could he have then reverted to using the 'Harrington' surname in later years? John and Hannah Harrington's first child, Harriet, was christened in Tilehurst in September 1810 which fits with the John/ Hannah marriage in the same place the year before.
Would there be a bastardy order involving John Ansted or Anna Hanington/ Harrington around 1788 (possibly in Englefield).... or any other clues anyone can suggest to move forward with this?
(Intriguingly, over 80 years later, after he had died, a newspaper note refers to 'John Harrington or Ansted'!)
