Finding parents of John Brown 1774-1845 born Kingsbury Episcopi, Somerset, England?

Question

Henry Brown was born 1746 who I have attributed to being the father of John Brown. The records show he was a sojouner and agricultural labourer, so he was down as a sojourner as he probably traveled around going from farm to farm where workers were needed for the plowing or harvest but returning home between times., and from the parish point of view he would not be entitled to any poor relief.

He married a Mary WILLY from Kingsbury Episcopi but where did he come from?

Have I attributed the wrong father to John?

John first married Ann MEAD and shortly after her death in 1799 he married Elizabeth MUNCKTON.

Answer 1

If your John is the one baptised at Kingsbury Episcopi in 1774, then it is very unlikely that he was the son of Henry Brown. He is recorded as the base-born son of Mary Brown, and Henry Brown and his wife Mary baptised a son Thomas only a couple of months earlier and others earlier still and later. There were three Mary Browns baptised in the 1730s who could be the mother, or she could be from elsewhere, perhaps a sister of Henry who moved to the village when he did, or she could be a widow. Tracing bastards is seldom easy; and the common surname makes it even harder. Your best hope is that there was a bastardy order (a court order requiring the father to support his child) and there are some for Kingsbury Episcopi surviving, see https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/830468?availability=Family%20History%20Library . (Not available directly online unfortunately.)

Answer 2

Henry Brown was the only Brown recorded in Kingsbury Episcopi at the time. However some church records are missing and maybe there were other Browns in the village before e.g. in the early part of the 1700s

Hence I am questioning my own search. It could be that the earlier Browns had children that went away, to the Militia for instance, and came back. Henry being recorded as a sojourner at the time of his wedding to Mary Willy does not help.

I will never know for certain as as I said some records are missing but there is always hope that someone somewhere might have dug something up