thanks sandra
i have just tried it and it worked its a lot easier than the way i did it
strange as it may seem it came up with two children for john cowley and hesther waterson braddan
john corkhill waterson cowley 20/10/1857
and
hesther cowley 25/12/1857 i think that must be some kind of record
something not quite right there
many thanks its given me another angle to look at
lesley