Hi Sandra, Thanks for replying but I can't see any links at the moment. On the 1841 census your family - with Elizabeth STOKES as a 4 year old daughter are at Branston in Leicestershire and her parents are said to have been born in county i.e. Leicestershire. I see that the whole family were on board the Randolph when it arrived in Lyttelton. I also see on Familysearch - the beta site - that a William STOKES married a Sarah WARD 13 April 1835 at Croxton Keyrial, Leicestershire. There is a place called Croxton Kerrial which is not very far from Branston in Leicestershire so this does look like a possible marriage for the parents of your Elizabeth. >From the same site I see that a William STOKES was christened in Branston 24 Aug 1817 s/o Thomas & Sarah Leicestershire is out of our area and STOKES is a relatively common name. My family appears to have been in Somerset for quite some time so I think it is fair to say that I would be surprised if there was a connection between out families. Hope you find time to unpack your boxes soon! Best wishes Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Somers" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 9:39 PM Subject: Re: [B&D] Elizabeth STOKES born 1848 Portbury - lived Wraxall. > Hi Pat > > I have just shifted house and have no genealogy time, much of my info is > still in boxes....however, > > I have an Elizabeth STOKES ( 3 x gr.grandmother) As I haven't validated > England information that was given to me on this one, you may wish to look > further for any connection back in UK. > > Elizabeth STOKES > b. Branston, Leicestershire, England 29 Oct 1836 > Arrived at Lyttelton, New Zealand on 'Randolph' (historically for NZ, > one > of the 1st Four Ships') 16 December 1850. > Embarkation: London > > Her parents were William STOKES b. abt 1818 place unknown to me and > Sarah STOKES b. abt. 1815 place unknown to me. > > I have a huge amount of family history including photographs on this > family > in NZ. There was a family reunion in 1950, celebrating 100 years in New > Zealand and a lot of 'catching up of information' was completed. LARGE > FAMILIES. If there happens to be a connection, happy to hear from you > again. > > Regards > Sandra > Auckland New Zealand