Thanks SRD & BC Wench
There are definitely advantages to using my local library because I tried the exact same FMP search when I got home but as soon as you get a positive match & click on it, you are asked to subscribe & can't see anything more: 'pay-wall'. But at the library you are given the next stage of information which allows you to decide whether the match is close enough to order a certificate.
I've ordered one as a tester, pdf & much cheaper than one that comes through the post.
So I'm pleased my trip to the library was positive.
Am trying to map out a Powell surname which was associated with North London, Hampstead. It's a bit of a 'Poirot' because my paternal grandmother was a maiden Powell of Hampstead (or Dalston) yet moved to Bromley in Kent, and I wondered why Kent? I'm wondering if there was a family connection with Kent from previous generations. The trouble is, I am coasting towards the 1837 watershed, beyond which tracing surnames becomes more difficult.
Several ladies from this line were associated with the laundry trade, and several of the men-folk were associated with horses, ostlers and cab drivers for example, so I think there's some form of family tradition going on here - but it's vague, and I could be wrong.
The earliest I have is a Thomas Powell ['ostler'] b.1791, d.abt 1845 and his spouse Charlotte b.1801, d.abt 1871 who may have had the maiden name of (?)
Marles. On an 1851 Census: HO107, Piece 1492, Folio 114, Page 15, a Charlotte Powell (Head, widow) is listed as "washerwoman", so the laundry and horse association is also there. Charlotte's age is 50 on the census so that ties in with her birth year. Thomas and Charlotte would be my paternal great gt gt grandparents.
Many kind thanks