My Tiverton/Loughborough connections aren't as connected as yours :)) James PONSFORD was a labourer who only went as far as Bristol and stopped. He was my husband's great grandfather. I'm not wholly convinced he was from Tiverton but that's consistently where he said he was from. He was a bit of a Jack the Lad though. I have found one who was born in Washfield, Devon, but I don't have anything to confirm one way or t'other he's the one I want. John PARKER was a blacksmith who was born in Newhall, Derbyshire. I had a marriage in Loughborough which I though was his but maybe not. The children I have birth certs for say his wife was a Catherine CHEATLE, not Catherine SWAN. I'd like to ask my 3x great grandfather whether he was married to Catherine SWAN but took up with Catherine CHEATLE and if they are two different Johns, when and where mine married Catherine CHEATLE. One John's daus married a John YOUNG and a grand dau married into a Forest of Dean family but that's as close as John gets to this area <G> I'd like John and James to come home so I can find out what's where with them both :)) Mike Gould wrote: > Hi Charani, > > I noticed that your posting included references to Tiverton (Devon) and > Loughborough (Leicestershire). These two places always make me sit up and > take notice, as an ancestor of mine was also connected with both. It's an > example of where family historians need to research local history to > understand what happened to their ancestors. My great x4 grandfather, John > QUAIL, was born in Leicestershire but married in Tiverton. He was an > Engineer and Framesmith, working on lacemaking frames. The reason for his > move was as follows: > > In 1816, there was a lot of unrest across the country. Luddism was rife, > and although this is often portrayed as an opposition to new technology, it > was as much about the problems caused by cheap imports from overseas. And > so it came about that a group of Luddites attacked John Heathcoat's lace > factory in Loughborough. They smashed up the lace making frames and burnt > the lace. Heathcoat was incensed. The Leicestershire County Council > offered him compensation for his losses, but only on condition that he > re-built a factory in Leicestershire. But Heathcoat was having none of it. > He had recently purchased a new factory in Tiverton and resolved to set up > his base there. He offered work to his Leicestershire workforce, and so it > came about that hundreds of people - many whole families - made the exodus > from Loughborough to Tiverton. They could not afford transport and walked > the whole way - mostly down the old Fosse Way. > > So it was, I'm sure, that my Leicestershire ancestor came to marry a lass > from Tiverton, Ann GOVIER, in 1821. He would only have been 14 in 1816, so > may have completed his apprenticeship before making the journey. I have yet > to find any records that tell me about his apprenticeship or when he moved > down to Tiverton. Perhaps one day ... > > To make sure that this is relevant to the List, John died in Bristol ! -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk http://www.savethegurkhas.co.uk/