Hello Listers, I have recently subscribed to the mailing list, as my paternal roots are in Humberside. My grandmother Fanny Beatrice CANHAM was born in 1885 Aldbrough, the fifth of seven children (6 of them girls). Her parents WILLIAM SPINK CANHAM and ANNIE ELIZABETH DEARING were married in 1876 at St John and St Martin, Beverley. William Spink CANHAM, baptised at Humbleton in 1841, was the son of John CANHAM and Elizabeth SPINK of Fitling.He had brothers Robert, John, William, George and Joseph, and a sister Anne. John CANHAM and Elizabeth SPINK married in Aldburgh in 1838. John CANHAM, baptised at Humbleton in 1816 was the son of farmer William CANHAM and Ann Carrick WRIGHT. Elizabeth SPINK, baptised in Aldbrough in 1812, was the daughter of Joseph SPINK and Ann Clark, who married in 1809 at Rise That's as far as I've got. The Humbleton parish records get very unreadable and although there's a Marmaduke CANNOM and Marmaduke CANNAM, I can't connect them with any certainty Has anyone got any connection with any of these families? The Canhams seem to come from a long line of farmers in Fitling, then for some reason between 1888 and 1898 they moved to Darlington to work in a laundry. The other brothers all left farming too, and on the 1901 Census Robert is a postman in Aldbrough, John is an Agricultural Labourer in Aldbrough, Joseph is a dock labourer in Hull, George is a bricklayer's labourer in Hull and I believe John went to America. In 1881 they were all farmers with land and employees (except George who was a grocer), so what happened? My Auntie Doris, the youngest Canham, who was born in Darlington in 1898 told me once that foot and mouth ruined the family. Was this the case? Dorothy E Smart Altrincham Cheshire getsmart@beeb.net