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My research continues:

1. I have discovered that the eldest of the 5 "brothers" (if that is what they were), Charles PARKER, married Sarah Ann COLES at Aller on 2 October 1855. Witness 1 was Samuel PARKER (presumably his youngest "brother"). Interestingly Charles is described as a "Yeoman" which suggests that he had moved a couple of rungs up the social ladder. Despite that I still haven't managed to find him in any census record.

2. As already mentioned, Sarah, the widowed mother of the 5 "brothers", re-married on 17 July 1842 to John MERRIOTT. At the time of the 1841 they were living with what appeared to be 2 children of the marriage - Thomas (9) and John (7) - as well as Samuel PARKER. I have been unable to find a baptism for Thomas MERRIOTT, but I have found a baptism for Thomas PARKER "son of Sarah" at Aller on 30 January 1842. In 1861 Thomas was living in Yatton and was in service to the same family (the LAVERs) that his step-brother, George, had been with 10 years earlier.

There is a William Long Evans buried in Milton Road Cemetery 28th March 1942 Aged 59. Plot N Grave 82. I could not find any burial record for a James Noble 1933.

Thank you (again) Pat. That is a very interesting observation. I hadn't seen an image of the baptismal record until today but you are absolutley right (as ever). It might be a straw, but I am grasping on to it.

I have been doing a little more research. Joseph SHAW was Rector of High Ham from 1803 until his death in 1851. W SHAW was his son William Henry Edward Dalzel SHAW. William was ordained a Priest on (wait for it) 23 June 1827, so the Baptism of Francis PARKER would have been one of his very first. In fact it was his second as a Priest, his first having been the baptism of a member of the CULLEN family on 23 July 1827. I have looked back through the images on Ancestry and, as far as I can see, his first in any capacity was of Jane COX on 2 July 1826 having been licensed as a Stipendary Curate on 12 June 1826. (Incidentally, William was also Chaplain at Langport Union.) None of this is conclusive evidence but it certainly thickens the plot.

Looking again at the baptism of Francis PARKER in 1827 - that entry is entered and signed by a W. SHAW unlike the majority of entries which are signed by a Joseph SHAW - I wonder whether W SHAW was unfamilar with the families and made an error in the mother's name? - Clutching at straws here!!

I should have said - the Burial in 1837 is from the images on Ancestry of Somerset Parish Records. Can't see a death of a Charles PARKER in either High Ham or Aller.

Thank you, Pat. I understand the points you make about possible mis-recordings.

Could I ask where you found that burial record, please? I couldn't find it on any of my usual online sites. I can't find any records for Charles after his baptism, so I wonder if he, too, died and was buried before the 1841 census.

Dave Erasmus