I've just discovered Jonathan Hoar, my 5 x g-grandfather as a bargemaster on the Berkshire / Oxon borders. First of all, I'm not quite sure what a bargemaster is...
He marries in Sotwell in 1781 to Mary Collins and they settle in Streatley, baptising daughters there throughout the 1780s and 1790s. At marriage, he gives himself as bargemaster of St Leonards, Wallingford.
I had hoped to tie him to the Hoar family where I found a 1786 will of a Jonathan Hoar, bargemaster of Wallingford but having traced this family for the next 2 generations, I haven't found anything. The archivist did comment that she could find marriages of bargemen but not always baptisms of their children, suggesting that they move around a lot and baptise their children in a variety of places.
now I know that my man doesn't do that after marriage but I was wondering if that might help me pin down his origins? I'm not sure Wallingford is the right place for him as the only connection for this is the info he gives at his own marriage. Guessing that he comes from a line of bargemen (as it seems to run for generations), any ideas how I might track his roots?