no worries about the census, I appreciate all the help. With regards to my thomas born in bradden to margaret and james, I found a referance to Marown marriages on a iom website that lists a marriage happening on June 2 1781. I cross referenced this with the familysearch.org and I found several referances to children born to a margaret cottier and james cretney (8 between 1782 and 1797) but no thomas. am I on the right track?