Am I coming to the right Conclusion?

[ShaCollins24]

This appears to be Georges 3 Marriages;

25 Oct 1778, St Mary the Virgin, Walkern, George COLLINS of Bennington to Jane LOWEN
5 Jan 1792, St Peter, Bennington, George COLLINGS to Sarah WARREN (Widr/Widow)
20 Oct 1796, St Peter, Bennington, George CALLINGS (Widr) to Priscilla BRETT
(FreeREG)

This is correct.

[ShaCollins24]

Did George Collings leave a will?  If so, this could give some information.

Instinct says that a Mr Collings was the biological father of Thomas and that, as Sarah later married George, the fathjer of Thomas was George Collings.  However, with the information you have so far, this is 'highly probable' but not definite.

Were there other Collings men having children baptised around the same time?

All the best
Philip

I have not been able to locate any will or other death information other than the burial for George. There were 3 other Collings men having children in Benington in the 1790s. There was one Collins in Walkern in the 1790s. I am and have been working on putting families of these two areas together. A huge undertaking with continue use of the same given names. Also, Collings and Collins go from one record to another and one time period to another. It appears in Benington that Collings was used until 1813ish then it changed to Collins. Some census though have Collings not Collins and vice versa. Such a puzzle to work through.

[Jomot]

Possibly adding to the confusion, you mention the two baptisms at Benington of John (1774) and Joseph (1780), both sons of James & Sarah Warren.   Searching for either a marriage or James' death, I found this:

11 Oct 1769, Marriage at Clothall - James Warren of Benington & Ann Cannon.  Banns were also read at Benington & gave Ann’s parish as Risden.

The marriage is then followed by these baptisms at Willian:
15 Apr 1770 Anne d/o James & Ann Warren
23 Jun 1771 Thomas s/o James & Ann Warren
27 Feb 1773 Sarah d/o James & Ann Warren
23 Jul 1775 Elizabeth d/o James & Ann Warren
06 Sep 1778 James s/o James & Ann Warren

22 Sep 1780 Burial at Willian - James Warren, labourer

Just wondering if it's possible that James & Sarah weren't actually married but she was somehow able to assume his surname whilst he was living 10 miles away with Ann

[josey]

Possibly adding to the confusion,

I'll say....

[ShaCollins24]

Possibly adding to the confusion,

Just wondering if it's possible that James & Sarah weren't actually married but she was somehow able to assume his surname whilst he was living 10 miles away with Ann

Yes adds to confusion. However, it dawned on me that there is no way of knowing if the widow Sarah Warren was married to James OR if whoever the Mr Warren is/was and Sarah had children. Difficult to say.

On another note. I went back and had a look at George and Sarah's Marriage record. It states the Banns were published the 7th, 14th and 21st August 1791. Marriage took place on 5th January 1792. Richard was baptised on 14 August 1791. John Haggard, Rector appears on both documents.

I am fairly certain that I am correct in thinking that the Richard Warren baptised on that day is in fact the son of George Collings. Proving my theory is another matter. Just need to make the decision on rather or not I put them as his parents and make a note of my research and my conclusion.