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Thankyou Robert, that looks interesting, I will look it up when I go to Kew. I also found that James was Master Blacksmith at Chatham Dockyard when HMS Victory was being built there, so he possibly worked on that!
I hadn't considered a foreign birth for James. Although his (possible) father was a Victualler in London I suppose he might have had an earlier career in the navy? I’m planning to try and find out if he was a member of the Company of Victuallers, there might be a little more information there.

Very interesting reading all the info about George Ham. I have recently come across him in England before he was transported. He was “co-habiting” with a Jane Peters, and they had an illegitimate daughter, Matilda Jane, baptised at St Leonard’s, Shoreditch in 1800 with the surname Ham. Jane appears in Poor Law Removal and Settlement Orders in January 1801 needing help as George had been transported, but the Overseers and Churchwardens in St Leonard’s passed her back to the Parish of Old Windsor in Berks, where she had previously been employed as a nursery maid.
In 1828 Matilda is baptised again with the surname Peters in Thames Ditton, along with her two illegitimate children Richard and Emma. Their reputed father is George Danvers Jenkins, a gentleman, who marries Matilda in 1831, then they have two more children, Catherine and Robert. On George and Matilda’s marriage record, her father’s occupation is given as Watchmaker, which doesn’t fit with the transportation records where he’s described as a Labourer, but as Matilda had never met him, she probably didn’t know much about him, and I gather that information about paternal occupations was quite often glamourised!!
Emma Jenkins carries on the family tradition by having two children with William Riley Stanford in 1848 and 1849, then marries him in 1856!
I have also seen on some other Trees that George Ham- (I’m not entirely certain it’s the same one at the moment)-had a marriage in England to an Anne, and some children with her, before he was with Jane Peters.

Hi Claire, the information you found has been very helpful, I think I have tracked Philip Pike back further, there’s a baptism record for him on June 19th 1739 in Churston Ferrers, parents John Pike and Anne. Anne is likely to be Anne Laverence, and I’ve also tracked her further back through several generations to a Richard Laverence, born 1559. Can’t be absolutely certain, but am trying to find more records to confirm or rule out. As it’s an unusual surname (French, possibly?) I’m hoping I’ve got the right family.
The witness on the marriage record for Philip Pike and Mary Winston Pearse could thus be John Laverence rather than Laurence, I’ve noticed that the name is often mistranscribed thus.
Philip and Mary also had several more children, although not one named Philip as far as I can find, which is unusual, being the father’s name.
Just putting this here in case anyone else is researching this family. Many thanks again for your help!

Fantastic, such a speedy reply, thank you so much! I’ve been puzzling over this one for ages!

Really excited to find these pages, as a result of which I've discovered my Mother's service number, and am about to order a copy of her records. Her name was Aldyth Elizabeth Maunder. This morning on tv I saw Nicky Campbell talking about his Mother's wartime experiences on the radar in the WAAF, which is also what my Mother did. His Father was in the Indian Army, as was mine!
I do wish I'd asked my parents about their wartime roles. Dad died in 1966 and Mum in 2003. I do know that Mum travelled around to many parts of Britain working at different places, and she always took her dog-feeding her on scraps from the NAAFI!
Thanks to all who provided links and advice in this thread.