Are you researching late 18th century Benjamin/Samuel Beard families in Newent? Does my mystery ancestor fit here?

Benjamin BEARD married Elizabeth Y(E)ATES in Hempsted, Gloucester, in 1807. At the time of his marriage he was described as ‘of the hamlet of Littleworth’ and he lived the rest of his life in Churchdown, where all his children were baptised during the period 1808-1822, and where he died in 1850. The only census he appears on is the 1841, when his occupation was the undistinguished ‘Ag Lab’. His children’s names were Benjamin, Esther, Samuel, William, Ann, Elizabeth, and James.

Benjamin’s birthplace, birthdate and parents have long been a mystery, but by a process of elimination I now think his origins may have been in Newent.

Problem 1: WHERE was he born? 1841 census indicates only ‘in Gloucestershire’. Although there were, intermittently, some BEARD families in the Hempsted area, researches of parish records and liaison with other researchers has failed to link Benjamin to them at all. Littleworth is the Lower Southgate St. area of the city of Gloucester, and no sign of him there either. So, where?

Problem 2: WHEN was he born? The little ‘evidence’ leaves a wide range of 1777-1791. According to age 72 on both death certificate and burial record, he was born about 1778. On the 1841 census his rounded age is clearly recorded as ‘50’, so his birth year could be as late as 1791, though probably a bit earlier. (His wife’s age on same census was rounded to ‘60’). So, when?

Over the last few years I have worked my way through all the Benjamin BEARDs that I could find baptised in Gloucestershire in this period 1777-1791. I have managed to eliminate them all (died young, married/lived elsewhere …). Except ONE, for whom a few other bits of circumstantial evidence also seem to fit.

Benjamin BEARD bapt. 24 May 1786 Newent, Glos.
Parents: Samuel and Hannah Beard.
Samuel (widower) married Hannah Taylor (spinster) in Newent 1784.
They also baptised another child, Betty, in Newent in 1789.

Now the circumstantial bits which together strengthen my belief that this is the right Benjamin.

1. I think this family moved from Newent into Gloucester. There is no further trace of Samuel and Hannah living or dying in the Newent area. There is however, a Samuel and Hannah who have several children baptised at St. Mary de Lode in the period 1795-1805. I can’t find a marriage for a different Samuel and Hannah. So is it the same family? It would explain Benjamin in Gloucester as an adult (actually from age 8-ish) but no baptism there.
2 . Benjamin named his second son Samuel. (First was Benjamin!)
3. Benjamin’s son William married a girl from Arlingham called Hanna MERRY at St.Mary de Lode in 1840. (These are my g.g.g. grandparents; they lived Churchdown/Hucclecote). Hannah’s sister, Elizabeth, also married a BEARD, Timothy, from Newent. The BEARD name is so common in Gloucestershire, and Newent seemed so remote from Churchdown, that for many years I assumed there was unlikely to be a connection. Now I’m not so sure. If Benjamin was originally from Newent, then William and Timothy were probably distant cousins. Perhaps Timothy met his future bride at his cousin William’s wedding, or a subsequent family event …. ??

All intriguing, and seems to fit.

Anyone else researching these families?