Is this the right Matthew Bailey?

[tuppence_123]

I suppose I am just trying to get support/confirmation that I am on the right track with working out which of three Matthew Baileys could be the one I am looking for.  He is the father of Matthew Bailey born in 1783 in Cranborne.  The three possibilities were born in 1746 (Edmondsham), 1751 (Cranborne) and 1761 (Cranborne). 

The only marriage I can find is what I assume to be the 1746 Matthew who married Mary Leat in 1766 - the other two Matthews would have been too young. (Note: while some of the transcripts I have seen say that it was Sarah Leat I managed to find online the marriage register and it is clearly Mary - the bride in the entry above was a Sarah)

This couple had their first child in 1767 and then their second in 1769.  What I am hesitating on is the next child born to Matthew Bailey isn't until 1775, then 1779, 1781, 1783 and 1786.  Can I be fairly confident that for whatever reason they had a six year gap between child two and three?

Any ideas/comments would be much appreciated.

Cathryn

[jusnoneed]

Hi, there is a marriage of William Bayley to Elizabeth Hayward 31 Mar 1771 Cranborne (Dorset OPC site)
It looks as if there are quite a few illegible entries in the records, makes things difficult to be sure of.

[Paco]

There are quite a lot of trees online for this family on Ancestry. If you know that the first child to be born to Matthew Bailey was in 1767 then the marriage to Sarah Leat on the 24/12/1766 looks the most likely although only going by dates, so not proven. The surname is sometimes spelt as Bayley.
regards.