Yes, Mary is the problem. She also appears as Maria in some trees. If she married Hattesley why did Thomas revert to her maiden name? Did he not get on woth his father? Thanks for your interest. Jenny
There has been a suggestion that he was the real son of John Hattersley but they did not marry until after their child was born. In which case he was not really a step father. Not uncommon. We can't really prove that. But Tom's children were definitely Protestant if anything at all. If Mary the mother said she was R.C. Could religion have something to do with it?
Rudd family members are in my tree too. My grand aunt married George Rudd. Originally I had George's parents and beyond in my tree but decided to cull because they aren't related to me.
I have found out that The father of Thomas Hattersley Rudd was John Hattersley, a farmer. I cannot find out if he married Mary or Maria Rudd at all, possibly afer the birth of Thomas who was born in York 1819, or who were Maria' parents. IAny help appreciated.
I can only give one little suggestion, and that's not to take the variant Maria too seriously. I had a little look at Thomas' baptism entry from the RC chapel (which?) in York (on Findmypast) & of course on that Mary becomes Maria in Latin. His one godparent is shown as Anna Colbeck, but she's most likely just Ann -you could see if she could be a relative, & if so, did she live in York or S. Yorks?