The surname Scorey first appears in the Fawley parish register in 1778 when a Richard Scorey married a Mary Keeping. Five of their children are baptised there between 1779 and 1788, with the register often noting that the family was from Hythe. There are then two baptisms for children of a John and Mary Scorey – Harriet in 1794 and Alicia in 1801 – and it is them that this post is about, as Alicia is my ancestor. Richard did have a son named John, but he was only 13 when Harriet was born, so he must be someone else.
John was buried in 1818 aged 66, and Mary in 1838, aged 85, so neither appear on a census where we might find their date of birth. Both burials were in Fawley. We can be sure the latter was John's wife, not Richard's, as there was an earlier burial there for a Mary who was described as Richard's widow. John was said to be from Newton while Mary was from Hardley, which is essentially the same place. This is all I can say with any certainty about John and Mary.
There seems to be no marriage for a John and Mary Scorey anywhere in mainland Hampshire in the few years before Harriet's birth in 1794. The previous one was a John Scorey and Mary Peirce in 1785 in Minstead, about ten miles across the Forest from Fawley. You'd have to go back to 1776 to find another. John's burial suggests a birth in 1751-2, and by far the closest match is a baptism in 1754 in Minstead for the son of a John and Rebecca Scorey. Similarly, Mary's burial suggests a 1752-3 birth, and there's a baptism in 1755 in Minstead for a Mary, the daughter of Clement and Sarah Peirce, though there's no shortage of potential baptisms for a Mary Peirce slightly further afield.
There's a 1786 baptism for a Jno son of Jno and Mary in Minstead and then the family seems to vanish from Minstead. There's no burials that could be John's and Mary's, no more children baptised there, and no sign that the younger John remained in Minstead or died there as a child. On the other hand, there are two burials in Fawley for men named John Scorey – in 1787 and 1802. One is likely Richard and Mary's son, and it would make sense if the other is the child baptised in Minstead in 1785. Otherwise this is the only early Scorey burial in Fawley which I cannot explain.
It all fits together very neatly. The gaps in the Fawley records are all filled by Minstead record, and vice versa. But there's no hard evidence that they are the same family, and Fawley and Minstead are some way from being neighbouring parishes. I wondered whether anyone else had encountered this family and has any ideas?