Burial for John Towers

[Little Nell]

I looked at a transcription.  It is difficult to see how William and Henry might be mistaken, but the only way to find out is to get sight of the original.  There is no sign of a William Streater marrying a Mary in Hamsphire around that time.  Are there any children baptised with parents William and Mary or are there only ones with Henry and Mary?  If the latter, then there may have been an error somewhere. 

Nell

[MacGrigor]

Only for Henry and Mary from about 1740 in New Alresford. I don't know of any children born to a William Streater. Henry did have Smith relatives, as articles following his death state that he had two nephews, William and Samuel Smith of Winchester.

[MacGrigor]

After a bit of digging, this is what I've recorded in my file:

Streater, Henry and Smith, Mary, married on the 17th of September 1739, in Winnall, Hampshire. Mary is recorded as being of Farley Chamberlayne. St. Martin’s Church in Winnall was part of the parish of St. John the Baptist with St Martin Winnall, Winchester - thus the marriage was recorded at St. John’s Church in Winchester the following day. Newspaper articles following Henry’s death stated that he had two nephews living in Winchester, William and Samuel Smith.

[Little Nell]

You seem to have solved your own problem - you noted the information from somewhere.  Evaluate the reliability of the source.  Most of us proceed by small steps, gradually increasing the probability that the record we have found is the correct one.  Sometimes it can take years to build up the correct tree.  I am still stuck on a number of ancestors due to a lack of adequate proof.  There are eureka moments, usually when least expected and it can come from the most unusual source, not the obvious parish register.

Have you considered the will available at Hampshire Record Office of John Towers senior of East Worldham in 1771? 
http://calm.hants.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=1771A%2f117&pos=6
Not available online, but then I'm afraid not everything is.

Nell

[MacGrigor]

Thanks for the will. I didn't have that.

[Little Nell]

Please don't forget to check the Resources boards for each county here on RootsChat.  There are links to any PR transcriptions that are known, plus links to online catalogues and many other resources which all help to build up the evidence base.  Sometimes questions can be answered by a simple online search. 

TNA catalogue also lists other record office holdings and some of these entries can be very detailed which can provide clues to help narrow down searches. 

Nell

[MacGrigor]

I will bear it in mind. Recently I have managed to be a bit more independent by utilising FreeREG and other suggested resources by the good members of this forum.