Dear Billington Listers, I am new to this list and try to track down my grandfather's family in Leicester and Cheshire. My grandfather Harold Lee Billington was born in 1872 in Birstall, a small village in Leicestershire. His father was John Billington, born 1828 in Birstall, and christened there in 1831. He was a framework knit weaver, and for a time he lived and worked in Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland. His wife was named Sarah Ann Morley. They had nine children, and she died sometime in the late 1870s, since she no longer appears on the 1881 census. I believe that John's father was also named John Billington and that his wife was Mary Ann Naylor and that both were born around 1796 in Cheshire. Three of the boys emigrated to Cleveland. The oldest, John, 1860-1937, was the first police chief in Lakewood, Ohio. Harold (1872-1935) was also a policeman. The youngest of the family was named Frederick and I don't know much at all about him except that he was born in 1878 and emigrated around 1891. I'd be very grateful if anyone could help me with the English roots of the family. Sincerely yours, Jeff Richards Muenster, Germany