I'm researching my family history and have found a forbear in Devon that MAY have gone by two names. I've found references in family trees to a Mary Carew b. 1750 in St Kew, Cornwall, as a daughter of both John (Jack) and Deborah Carew of St Kew, and of John Hann and Ann Welsman of Sidbury, Devon. I've also found trees in which she is named "Mary Ann Hann", but with EXACTLY the same birthplace and date as Mary Carew.

I'm, particularly interested in this because I believe that Mary Carew/Hann is my great-great-great-great-grandmother. There was certainly evidence a "Mary Carew" born in St Kew in 1750, daughter of John (Jack) and Deborah Carew, but her mother Deborah died when Mary was just three years old. The next reference is to her being married to Henry Cottrell in Devon, though no one has been able to quote an actual marriage certificate. Family reminiscences suggest that they may have married in Exeter, but that could mean any of the nearby villages as well, I guess. In particular, the villages of Sidbury and Uffculme may be candidates.

My theory (as yet completely untested) is that there may have been some connection between the Carew and Hann families, and that when mother Deborah Carew died, Mary was adopted by the Hanns and moved from St Kew to Devon. Family trees which show her as a daughter of John Hann and Ann Welsman certainly fit this theory. Unfortunately, I've not been able to get any clarification from the owners of these trees.

I'm travelling (I'm resident in Auckland, NZ) to the UK in a couple of days, and will be checking out some items in the Devon Archives at Exeter around 9-10 August. The one that intrigues me most is a 1754 "Removal Order" from the parish of Lympstone, where "John Hann and his wife Ann from Sidbury" are presumably sent back to Sidbury to avoid having the Lympstone parish take financial responsibility for them. Some Removal Orders list the children who are also being "removed" along with the parents, and it will be of great interest to see if this is the case here - and whether the child in question is referred to as Mary Hann or Mary Carew.

I'd be delighted if any readers had information about the Carew/Hann families, and especially whether Mary Carew and Mary Hann are one and the same, given they share an exact birth date and birthplace. It's clear that the Hann and Cottrell families had close relations, with several intermarriages between them over the years. And it's also clear that there is some connection between the Cottrells and the Carews. Henry Cottrell and Mary Carew?/Hann?'s children include both a John HANN Cottrell and a Robert CAREW Cottrell (my ggggfather).

Any suggestions readers may have in respect of my research at the Devon archives around 9-10 August would be most welcome - and I'm of course willing to share any of my own research if there is interest - I have a trove of information on the family after their emigration to New Zealand. And if there's a clear explanation for the Mary Carew/Hann conundrum, I'd be ecstatic!

If anyone would like to e-mail me, I can be reached on roger.wilson@hyper.net.nz. Many thanks!