I am new to the list and re-sending my surname interests which did not appear to get through via digest mode yesterday William BROMAGE (b. 1850, Leicester) and his brother Charles BROMAGE (b.1853, Leicester) ran their own barge or barges mainly along the Oxford canal. Their father William BROMAGE, also a bargeman, was born in Warwick in the 1820s, and I have always been told that the family originates from there. William BROMAGE (the younger) married Sarah SHILCOCK at Holy Trinity Coventry in 1873. Sarah's father William SHILCOCK (b. 1829, Leicester) was also a barge boatman. The Shilcocks seem to have been based around Bedworth. William and Sarah BROMAGE had 13 children, and their youngest son Arthur (b. 1892) was my grandfather. In later years the Bromage family settled in Coventry and the children went into different occupations. Also researching GETTINGS/GITTINGS in Bedworth/Walsgrave, near Coventry, and HAROLD and variants in Warwick. I do not know if they were canal families but they married into the BROMAGE and SHILCOCK families above. Please contact me if you recognise anyone! Sian Jennings [email protected]