You have obviously put in some time & effort with this Jan, So thank you very much for the same

.
This morning after receiving your reply, I did two things: one was to go into the old LDS
igi search field and downloaded 23 James Isted's chr.data from 1770 - 1806. The only
helpful one was for James chr. 25 Feb. 1780. East Grintead. Secondly, I did a Google search for Isted Sussex. In all of those links, there was one called " Weald " which is the family tree that this James is shown. Since he is one of the James involved, I thought, what a great way to eliminate some of the children. Sadly

There are only three Shown in his line, Sarah 1803, William 1808 And Frances 1830. ( what a massive jump ) all were
chr. in East Grinstead. There was also a Sarah chr. in 1810 ( LDS igi ) I wonder if she is
another line or, replacing the earlier Sarah who may have died infant?
To me it seems that there are children missing, though I may well be quite wrong.
Now back to the now 22 James Isted's, which I have narrowed down to five.
There were five chr. in Horsted Keynes: Sophia 1813, Harriet 1816, Hannah 1819,
William 1825, and John 1828.
( Mary Istead, born 29 Jan.1829
( Mary Istead, chr. 09 Feb. 1829 West Hoathly
( Ann Istead, born 06 June 1810 West Hoathly
( Ann chr. 29 July 1810
Edward Isted, chr. 28 April 1822 West Hoathly
Mary Isted, chr. 1840 Worth
Elizabeth, chr. 1848 Worth
This last group I believe could be in my wifes line
James Isted chr. 06 Oct.1806
Mary chr. 11 April 1813
George chr. 04 June 1815 the earliest proven ancestor
John chr. 25 Oct. 1818
When I look at my wifes line of descent, there is no comparison with all of the others,
( namewise ).
Looks like I have a cold case on my hands Jan.

Best wishes,
Wozza