I've been playing around with this a bit more. There were HOWLANDS at Lowdas/Loudas in 1841 - Mary (13) and Evan (9) (actually Mary Ann and Hugh) - with their mother Margaret and step-father John QUIRK. Margaret had previously been married to William HOWLAND (1774-1833) the brother of the older John HOWLAND (1777-1849) mentioned in my original query. I wonder whether there's a connection here?