My interest in the WALE family of Little Shelford is academic rather than familial. After recording facts for many years about the village which my family came, I decided to write a biography of Sir Charles WALE KCB for my Doctorial thesis. The WALE family were prominent land owners in the area around the village from the late 17th century, having come from Barfield in Essex. Breaking the family tradition, Sir Charles joined the army in 1779 (possibly at the age of 14), the family previously having been merchants in Riga, Russia. He went on to be responsible for taking Guadeloupe for the British during the Napoleonic Wars and was made governor of Martinique as a reward. He was governor there when the island was returned to the French for the final time. There are many monuments to the WALE family in the parish church in Little Shelford. I would love to hear from anyone who has any of the WALE family or their offshoots (POWELL, WILLIS, PEMBERTON, FFOLKES, WHATELEY, WEST, PREST, DILL, LAWRENCE) in their database. Cheers -- Robyn Smith -- Sydney, Australia Listowner ENG-CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ENGLISH-FENS at www.Rootsweb.com List admin ENG-CAMBRIDGESHIRE, GEN-WebDesign, OPC-CAM-Little-Shelford, OPC-CAM-Brinkley, OPC-DEV-Bickington at www.British-Genealogy.com Family History Web Site http://www.robalsmith.id.au Little Shelford Web Site http://shelford.robalsmith.id.au/