It is some two years since I posted regarding seeking the parents of James Thomas Mutlow Hodges and now can relate additional information found during research.

It would appear that James married Elizabeth Ann Phillips on 3 Feb 1811 at St George Hanover Square, Westminster, London, following marriage allegations of 31 Jan that year at the Vicar General's Office, Lambeth Palace, South London, details of which I now have. Elizabeth originated from St Botolph Aldgate, London. The marriage, by Licence (a copy of which I have), does not reveal James' parents, although his christening record shows them as "Thomas Hodges and Margaret".

I have narrowed down the window in which James moved to London, which was between 1791 (his birth/baptism) and 1794, the baptism of his brother George. New data reveals that James was inducted into St Paul's School, St Paul's Cathedral Churchyard, on 22 Jan 1803, wherein his father, Thomas Hodges was described as "of the Custom House". The Custom House was, in 1803, located in Lower Thomas Street, City of London, near to the River Thames - the site on which a Custom House had stood from as early as 1275 until 1814 when the then current (Ripley) Custom House was destroyed by fire. Having thus placed James, and his parents, in the City of London in 1803, there became a 2-pronged avenue of research as to his parents' place of origin and place of marriage.

That James was baptised in Kington, Herefordshire suggests an area of both origin and marriage of Thomas and Margaret, and although the "Mutlow" in James' christian name suggests an earlier family name incorporated, no marriage of any Thomas Hodges to a Margaret Mutlow has been found in an appropriate time-frame. Nevertheless, the Mutlow name may have been come from an earlier family marriage on either the Thomas side or that of Margaret (though the latter remains favourite). Researching the Mutlow (or Mutloe) surname reveals a predominance of that name in the English counties bordering Wales. I have also to bear in mind that James' baptism in Kington may possibly have occurred whilst his parents were merely visiting or travelling through that area. This brings me back to thoughts of a possible London area origin for James' parents.

A project still ongoing, I will welcome any new comment or observation that could shed any light on this brickwall of my 4th greatgrandparents.