Hello Darren. Hannah is still unaccounted for so I am really glad to hear from you. I did have a look at the original marriage entry and - to my intense irritation - it was impossible to read it as anything other than Dokewell; the records were in a bit of a state when filmed and, try as I might, I could not see it as anything else. Unfortunately, records so poor could not photocopy. Dowdeswell is my best guess - mostly due to its proximity to Bledington, though.
I do think your missing Hannah may be a candidate (I now see I have made a mistake in my original post, her birth c1690-1695, obviously, not 1790s) and that it is worth further research; as you say, it looks promising. Anthony HALE's approx birthdate is 1688 so Hannah pre-1684 may mean ages pretty close to one another. Their last child was born 1731 though, so that might be a bit too much. There is a Settlement Certificate on file at Oxford Records for an Anthony HALE and Hannah, to settle in Churchill, issued in 1716. I have not seen it as the archivist said there is no more definite info on it but it may be theirs. Regardless of that, A and H did bring up a large family in Kingham. If you want to look for familiar family names linked with DOWDESWELL, A and H's family is listed in an earlier rootsweb post. If you search this site with HALE, Kingham, Oxon, you should be able to view it. If not, let me know. Also let me know if I can give you any further info - I have a tree on GR if you want to look at it.
I would be v glad to hear from you if you are inclined to pursue the trail. In the interim, I am looking for a later Hannah, 4 generations down from Miss Dokewell. Just about to post it now.
My thanks, Pat W
