Things looked to be going so well ... and then a massive fly landed in the ointment.
The family name is sometimes spelled Holcombe, sometimes Holcomb, and sometimes Halcombe. On one occasion it is Hulcomb.
The names Eleanor (sometimes spelled Ellinor) and Helen (sometimes spelled Hellen) switch back and forth on a regular basis to the point that whenever you see Eleanor you should say to yourself "or Helen", and whenever you see Helen you should say to yourself "or Eleanor".
We have a very tidy family grouping; everything checks out, everything tallies, the records are nice and clear, and the story goes like this:
John Holcomb, bachelor of Horne in the county of Surrey, married Eleanor Holman, spinster of the parish of Worth in Sussex, after banns called on 22 April, 29 April and 6 May 1759. The marriage took place in Worth on 16 May 1759. They then lived together in Horne and baptised eight children:
John, on 5 June 1760
William, on 26 July 1761
Eleanor, on 17 November 1763
Ann, on 21 April 1765
Elizabeth, on 26 October 1766
Henne Ritta Maria, on 18 March 1768
James, on 14 June 1771
Philadelphia, on 7 May 1774
Having baptised all their children, they then moved 8 miles west to Charlwood, and started burying some of them.
Philadelphia, age 12 years 11 months, was buried on 26 March 1786
Elizabeth, in her 20th year, was buried on 23 April 1786
Helen (that's Eleanor ... ), age 29, was buried on 14 March 1797
Then it's the turn of the parents to die.
John Holcomb, age 81, was buried in Charlwood on 21 December 1809
Helen Holcomb, age 77, widow of John, was buried in Charlwood on 26 October 1812.
It's all so neat, tidy and perfect ... until you start trying to find John Holcomb's baptism and understand his family.
There is a baptism which definitely LOOKS as though it should be him: John Halcomb, son of Benjamin and Ann, baptised in Godstone on 7 March 1725/6. He has an older brother Robert (baptised 19 April 1723), a younger sister Mary (baptised 22 March 1731/2) and a younger brother Thomas (baptised 3 September 1735).
So where's the fly? It's buzzing around Godstone burial ground, in the form of a memorial inscription.
John's sister Mary Hulcomb married John Burchett in Coates cum Burton, Sussex on 3 January 1754. They had a daughter Elizabeth Burchett who was baptised in Godstone on 14 August 1758. Mary was buried in Godstone on 18 August 1758 and the infant Elizabeth was buried on 1 October 1758.
Mary and Elizabeth are buried in the same grave and the memorial inscription records that Mary was 27 years old.
Benjamin Holcomb was buried in the same grave on 3 March 1782. His age at death, according to the inscription, was 86. The inscription on the grave mistakenly described him as the grandfather of Mary Burchett. He was, of course, the FATHER of Mary Burchett, and the Grandfather of ELIZABETH Burchett.
Thomas Holcombe was buried in the same grave on 9 November 1788. He was said to be 55 years of age, and the same blunder was made with the inscription: he is described as the uncle of Mary Burchett, whereas he was in fact the brother of Mary Burchett and uncle of Elizabeth Burchett.
Finally, Ann Holcomb and John Holcomb were both buried in the same grave in 1789. (The National Burial Index has Ann buried on 9 November 1788; but the memorial inscription gives the year of death as 1789. John was buried on 10 December 1789.)
This, too, looks like a complete, self-contained and self-explanatory family group.
All of which means, I think, that John Holcomb who married Helen Holman cannot have been John Holcomb, son of Benjamin and Ann: he is fully accounted for.
And so to the question: who the devil WAS this John Holcomb who married Helen Holman? I am at a loss here. It may be that the records simply have not survived and we shall never know. But the RootsChat detectives love a challenge like this ... so any suggestions that look worthy of following up, no matter how implausible they seem, would be gratefully received.
[Someone's bound to ask about Helen: she was Helen Holman, daughter of John and Hellen, baptised in Worth on 5 November 1735. She had older siblings John, Henrietta, James, Richard (who died before she was born) and twins Joseph and Philadelphia. She also had a younger sister called Catherine. The recurrence of the names Henrietta and Philadelphia among her own children give me a very high degree of confidence that this is an accurate identification.]
