Hi - I remember that you had difficulty getting to a Family History Centre, but it really is worth the effort. Even though you can sometimes visit the IoM it makes a big difference to have as much info as possible before going there, and when you have more time available.

In that pre-alive-1841 period I found that the greatest help initially came from parish registers and wills (and sometimes from marriage contracts, esp. in the early 1700s). This was before Brian compiled his wills index, so I wasn't diverted to look for only likely wills for "my" names. I had three parishes of particular interest, and another couple of parishes I checked as well because nearby. I looked at every will and decree in those parishes, year after year, film after film. This led to a lot of breakthroughs, including all the siblings' names and married names being given as supervisors for a young nephew in a decree when his mother died (her married name had been unknown), another decree which named siblings of the "whole blood" and others of the "half blood" - their children, also fully named, inherited. A grandmother's will left money to educate her daughter's illegitimate son and to give him a trade. I could give dozens of examples where wills were in names I would never have thought to look at, had I not been taking this blanket approach.

The wills index would be a starting point, in choosing films likely to be of most interest for your names, and for listing the refs. Frances's summaries are also a big help, but nothing takes the place of looking for yourself and photocopying or photographing the wills - even if someone else has already transcribed them. Sometimes an error has been made, or crucial notes at the end have been missed, like one Radcliffe father's will where an unborn child was named only once, 13 years later, when his share was collected for him by his sister.
I suggest starting by looking for the possible wills of the parents of your confirmed ancestors (and looking at all others in the same parishes), and work your way back.

The parish register copies on film will also give you far more information than the IGI, and it is often possible to sort people into the correct families when residences, nicknames, or an occupation is given.

Sue