Lee family of Henley in Arden / Wootton Wawen

[aylene]

I have traced my husband's family back to William Lee abt 1800 who gives his place of origin as Henley in Arden. He married a Maria Harrall in April 1819 in the parish of Wootton Wawen and they had approx 11 children - William, Mary, Ann, James, Harriet, Henry, Emma, Thomas, Richard, George and Jane. He was a sawyer by trade and moved to London St Pancras for approx 25 years, returning later to live with his sister Harriet. The baptism records for Wootton Wawen were damaged by flood. for most of the 1700's and part of the 1800's. Does anybody have any suggestions how I could trace him further back? Harrall seems an unusual name but have found no trace of it nearby. I have tried the usual routes of census, ancestry, Genes Reunited and had a lot of success tracing his children's families but nobody can go back further than William and Maria. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Aylene

[lizdb]

Is it just the parish records that are lost, or the Bishops Transcripts too?

[aylene]

I found online that the following are missing 1701-1764. I would be interested in births from 1700 to 1800.How would I be able to see the Bishops Transcripts?
Thanks very much for the fast reply!
Aylene

[Keziahemm]

Bishops Transcripts for Wootton Wawen are at Worcester History Centre; Warwick Record Office should also have them.

Susan 

Added - have checked a CD containing BMDs for WW 1546-1700, can't see a name resembling Harrall, however there are a number of Lee/Lea/Laye/Leigh surnames 

[aylene]

Thanks for looking! I am quite new to this kind of research and am based in Italy which makes it harder to do the research. There is another person resarching this family who i could ask to look in Worcester. Certainly Lee is a very common name but as far as I know Henley in Arden was a small parish. I was surprised not to find Harrall, even searching on the net. I did find some in Rugby and Coventry though.
It would be very frustrating to stop at 1800! Aylene

[Lemontree]

You want to search for William lee born in Henley in Arden?

it will not matter that the WW registers are damaged when you search for William. You can also use family history centers in Italy, use the website www.familysearch.org to search for a center near to your home in italy and go and order the HinA and search for the baptism of William Lee

Maria Harrall may not have been born in WW - she may have moved there from somewhere else - could that be the case, have you got her on the 1851 census? See if you can order the BT for ww from a amiy history center in Italy