There is solid evidence for John being the son of William Henley and Ann White. Ann came from St Clement Danes, Westminster. In 1803 (information from the Russelll archives) she was a housemaid in Woburn Abbey alongside Catherine Henley, William's cousin, and her elder sister Lettice was a witness at John Henley's own marriage in Brighton in 1838. The mystery was William Ralph. Looking at the dates of birth he cannot have had the same mother as John. William Ralph was the illegitimate son of Anne Ralph, who never married. His father was a William Henley: most likely the same one, though could have been his uncle. Too many Williams! The big question is who were the parents of Joseph born 1799. My best guess is William Henley and Mary Raklph, both then aged 17. Mary Ralph was Ann's sister. There was another child, in 1802, christened 23 May: Rebecca Ralph (father unnamed, mother Ann Ralph). Rebecca died 5 Aug 1802. Complicated story. And that's before we try to unravel the White family in Woburn and in St Clement Danes. That one is not for rootschat because I doubt if there's any documentary evidence that would help - but it seems that William White (Ann's and Lettice's father) had a family in Woburn 1750s to 1770, and another family in St Clement Danes 1772-1785. He was the tenant and ratepayer of 14 Leighton Street, Woburn until his death in 1810, when the tenancy was taken over by Andrew Henley (William's father).
