I was fortunate enough to know his name, Thomas Bell as he was named on the baptism record but because the baptism was in the Scotch Presbyterian Church in Haltwhistle that was all I had. In that area Thomas Bell is a very common name and so there were lots of potential candidates . The article in question basically made me ask the right questions regarding, for example, first names and so I looked for a Thomas Bell with a father William (my gg grandfather was called William Dent) of the right sort of age. I then also noticed that the first names of his siblings were also the first names of my great,great grandfather's many children. I also discovered that Thomas was the son of a Weaving Factory Owner and ,given that the mother of my gg grandfather was the daughter of a weaver, it all started to make sense, if only in my head! Having located Thomas in the 1841, 51 and 61 censuses I identified a possible entry in the probate calendar and felt it was worth a go. The e mail arrived this morning and lo and behold he actually names my gg grandfather, left him £100 and also, given that the will had been written in 1830, made provision for his education and upbringing until he came of age. As you can imagine I am very happy indeed.
William
