Hi Folks

I am looking for a little help to establish the parents of my 2nd great grand father William James.

I know that he married my 2nd great grandmother Sarah Pegley (sometimes spelled Pegly born in Tidenham in 1820) on 26 Mar 1845 at Hewelsfield in Gloucestershire on his marriage certificate (which I have a copy of) he says he was a widower of full age whose father was James James a Farmer. His wife Sarah was a spinster with father Thomas Pegley a labourer. Both William and Sarah gave their address as Bishton.

According to the 1851 Census William James was born in Tidenham in Gloucestershire. He died in the Chepstow Union Workhouse in Wales in Feb 1861. I am not sure what happened to William's wife Sarah (I think she may have died in Tidenham in 1858) but it may be that two of their children James James and his sister Mary James (my great grandmother) were also in the Chepstow workhouse in 1861.

On the IGI I found a record of a baptism in Tidenham of a William James with a father James James and mother Mary, on 15 Oct 1793.

Looking around this date I found several other children born to Parents James James and his wife Mary, who were baptised in Tidenham. the earliest of these was another James James (brother to my William?) baptised in 1788.

On searching the IGI for a marriage of a James James to a Mary before 1788 I found a marriage of James James to Mary Jones on 5 Jun 1787 in Tidenham.

Does anyone have any access to parish records for the Tidenham area which could possibly give me more detail than the IGI.

I would like to establish that I have the correct parents for my William James and if possible where and when they (James James and his wife Mary Jones) were born. With the surnames and location close to the Welsh border they may well have had Welsh ancestry.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard