Thoughts on if James Ashton Pearson was real.

[Fibrokitty]

It may be worth looking for bastardy bonds or an affiliation order if she tried to get this man to pay for his children

could i ask where i would find these please? I agree with the living as husband and wife maybe, i just need to find them together on something   

[Fibrokitty]

Who reported Hannah's  death and paid for gravestone ..?

The children may not have known that their father James was not .. PEARSON 

Have you found Hannah in 1851 ?

Her daughter was present at her death on her DC, she was buried in a family grave with quiet a few people, im not sure who paid for the headstone.

Upon looking at her death certificate and burial register, her DC states shes 64 and a widow and the register states shes 63 and a married woman (it is the same person as its got the same address and death date).

[brigidmac]

bastardy bonds and affiliation orders are held at local records offices ..its hit and miss wether you find them

have any of older generation taken DNA tests at this level you could find Ashton matches

what birth dates have you considered for james could he have been much older or younger than hannah
?

[brigidmac]

there a possibility  that  Hannah passed herself off as widow but James still alive or status unknown (regardless of whether they legally married )

 someone may have " known" a different truth so different status recorded .

[Maiden Stone]

bastardy bonds and affiliation orders are held at local records offices ..its hit and miss wether you find them

Try Lancashire Archives. There may also be records at Bolton.
My 3xGGF was issued with an affiliation order in 1823. He was named as the father at baptism and  when the boy died 7 years later. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. 40 years earlier a man with the same name as my ancestor's father (probably my 4xGGF) got a local girl pregnant. No affiliation order for that case. I assume that the 2 families came to a private financial arrangement. Both families belonged to a close-knit Catholic community. The young couple seem to have been "keeping company" for some time. A relative of the father was baby's godfather. The Anglican curate in that parish noted for another baptism that the mother's husband had been away in the army for 2 years.
A GGF of mine and his sister gave a made-up father's name at their respective marriages. The fiction was followed to the extent of both naming a son after him.
   

[brigidmac]

if people see your tree they may think James Ashton pearson exists and copy it

i now think he doesnt

i you found the baptism of Hannah to single mother Sally Pearson

who is also mother of mary pearson b1796

there is a sally pearson b 1772  baptised as daughter of Ralph Pearson (anchor smith + Hannah BARKER )

would their descendants show up on your thru lines

also a likely candidate for a birth father is George Ashton.
 In 1841 there is a blacksmith widow with sons including a 15 year old
so would likely have been married when hannah had her children

put surname ASHTON as children,s father tag as hypothesis and see if any thru lines comeup

good luck . its been a good day for hunches + educated guesses