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My many times gt grandfather is Richard Meeson, bap  11 Dec 1793 of Elizabeth Meeson.
I have often wondered if she married after having given birth to Richard, and had looked
to both the John Bill marriage in 1797 and the Thomas Stanley marriage in 1801 as possibilities.
Could you tell me a little more about your Elizabeth Meeson?  I believe that mine was the daughter of Richard Meeson and Joice Smallwood.
Our family has kept Meeson as a middle name up to the present!
Looking forward to hearing from you
Kevin Bowers

The other thing to consider is that I have not been able to find out much about the Calvert family she married into - I suspect they were Non-Conformist, as many of the Calverts are buried at Booth Independent.  Hannah Calvert (formerly Cockcroft)'s gravestone reads: Died 1 March 1817 age 36.    Perhaps she was also non-conformist.  Do you know if there are non-conformist records in that area that are not on the IGI?  I think there is a good chance that everything I am looking for is simply hidden away in a Non-Conformist register which has yet to be made available.

From a cold (and now a dark) Canada
Kevin

Wow - what alot of information!!!  I've printed this out and will have a good look at it and digest!  Thank you so much!

I was at the Library yesterday, and quite by chance they have a microfilm copy of the Heptonstall Bishop's Transcripts.  I looked at the baptism of John, son of John Cockcroft on 5 May 1771, and after JC's name was written what looked like "Err Web". This of course baffled me until I looked at other entries, and realized that this meant of Erringden, Webster (I think a webster is the same as a weaver).

At Luddenden there are 4 entries for children of John Cockcroft:  Wm bap 1772, Margaret bap 1775, Elizabeth bap 1778 and Mary bap 1782.  The John mentioned above fits in quite nicely here, as does Hannah from the Todmordon register who was bap in 1780 (and that bap mentions mothers' name: Mary).

Now, I know that "fits in nicely" doesnt always lead to truthbut rather to a good conjecture, but I am thinking that if this all "fits in nicely" with the John C & Mary Uttley marriage in 1768.  As far as my Hannah Cockcroft is concerned, her 18 yr old groom Timothy Calvert lived at Midgley, and at the time of the marriage Hannah is living at Wadworth.  I really need to check a map here, but this seems to be not entirely out of the question. 

Thank you again for such a quick response - both you and Sandra are my new heroes!
Kevin

This James Calvert (as in James & Grace Calvert) was elder brother to my Timothy Calvert (also buried at Booth).  Timothy married Hannah Cockcroft while still a minor, so had to marry by licence and secure his father's permission.  On the licence it states
that Timothy Calvert is the son of Reuben Calvert Sr.  (there is also a Reuben Calvert Jr who signs the licence as a witness).  So that would mean that Reuben Sr is also father to your James!

Hope this is of interest
Kevin Bowers
Canada