And, one of my elderly rellies (he a retired NSW BDM senior officer) has phoned me to say that it is entirely possible that there's two aspects we have not yet given careful consideration to.
a) Doyle may well be a transcription error that frequents some transcriptions, particularly if the transcriber is working on baptisms of babies as these do NOT give surnames to be babies being baptised, so for example if the baptism reads:
Mary Ann, dau'of then there's plenty of opportunity for 177Os handwriting to transcribe that as Mary Ann DOYLE..
b) When the Wesleyans and similar protesting movements were breaking away from Church of England practices there's many a lass who chose a new Christian name, which the Wesleyans recognised, but the Anglicans did not ... so Mary Ann dau of ... SHARPE (a likely candidate for THE FIRST wife of Charles PALMER) may have been known in the Wesleyans in the Castlereagh district of NSW in the 1810s and 1820s as Athelia or Amelia or variations... and at least one daughter of that couple was given similar name... Please do read Matilda PALMER's baptism record that I transcribed and repost here:
...
From the 1820 Richmond NSW population book, and the image that the NSW State Archives has allowed Ancestry to upload:
Chas PALMER has at his location :
Mary Ann PALMER, c.f. (came free)
Sabina PALMER (c.f.)
Athelia PALMER b.c. (born in the colony)
1825 Muster at C. PALMER, at Richmond, Sydney
Mrs A PALMER, c.f. (dead) wife of C Palmer
Sabina PALMER, 25, b.c. and the others as listed below noted are bracketed together as children of C Palmer
Althelia PALMER, 23, b.c.
Almeriah PALMER, 19 b.c.
Matilda PALMER, 9, b.c.
Euphemia PALMER, 13, b.c.
From the baptismal record for Matilda PALMER,
Matilda, daughter of Charles and Athelia PALMER, he a farmer, was born 2 March 1816 and baptised 30 October 1827, by Rev G Erskine at Windsor, Wesley rites. The Rev Erskine then transmitted the information to Rev John Cross who registered the baptism in the register of St Matthews C of E, Windsor.
JM (edit to give prominence to Mary Ann dau'of )
