Hello All, My genealogy interest in Birkenhead include three families: ELLIS, STRATTON and McALPINE. Richard Ellis, who was a police inspector in Amlwch and Holyhead until c1865, arrived in Birkenhead in c 1870 with his wife Sarah and six children (Margaret, Thomas, John Samuel, William, Edward Rowland and Robert). Local directories record him as a Mail Contractor and Car Proprieter. John Samuel (my GGrandfather) and his family moved to Bootle before returning to the Clifton area of Birkenhead. I know nothing of the fortunes (or otherwise) of the other children. The Strattons came from Newtown in Hampshire. Henry owned a wringing machine dealership in Borough Road while his son George was Librarian at Birkenhead Library and Curator at the Williamson Art Gallery during the 1930's and 1940's. Robert William Stewart (Wilhelm Steinmetz) McAlpine came to Birkenhead from Belfast and was, at one time, agent in Liverpool for the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). He married Eliza Stratton and one of their daughters married a son of John Samuel Ellis. None of these people could be said to have changed the world but, like all ancestors, must have an interesting story to tell. I should be grateful for information to get me out of my present cul de sac from anyone who might have links with their family tree. Thank you, John Ellis