Hi Maddy,
Yes I saw the baptism for Mary Ann Mathams in Grays a long time ago, years now, and rejected it, given it "should" have been for a Mary Ann Wright anyway. It's an extremely long story, but I've very recently come across a lot of evidence that suggests that James Wright and Susan Matthews both came from Steeple Bumpstead, married in Ipswich, and had their first child, James Wright, in 1800 in Steeple Bumpstead, and then changed their name to Matthews, with them appearing in Goldhanger, Essex in 1804, and thereafter in Grays, where they had the following children under the surname Matthams or variations, as follows:
Child Born Baptized Father Mother
William Byers Matthams 28 August 1807 20 September 1807 James Susannah
Mary Ann Mathams 19 April 1810 17 June 1810 James Susannah
Ruth Mathams 13 February 1814 James Susan
Jonah Matthams 28 April 1816 James Susannah
Ann Mattams 7 March 1819 James Susan
Of the above three sisters, Mary Ann, Ruth and my 3 x Great grandmother, Ann, or Nancy as she was later known, all married under the name Wright, and all in parishes outside, but not far from, Grays. The age and place of birth in later Census and e.g. death records for the three sisters, exactly match the earlier Matthams records, and there is a lot of other evidence, too much to write about here. The Grays curate William Harper, called the Matthews child of another unrelated family Matthams as well. The mystery at the moment was why the family went from Wright in 1800 to Susan's surname Matthews by 1804. The Ancestry tree might be mine, although I think I put Susan's year of birth as being 1778. This has to be my biggest break through, but most unusual family history story. What I'm hoping if someone is able to add any further details to what Kay kindly provided to the Ipswich marriage.
P.S. Nancy married Nathaniel Suckling, she was the only one of the three sisters who had children, 14 in all, and Nancy and Nathaniel left London to live in New Zealand in 1870.
