Hi Rita The Kennet & Avon Canal is one continuous waterway linking the River Thames at Reading to the River Avon at Bath. Originally it was built as three individual navigations. The Kennet Navigation, from Reading to Newbury and the River Avon, between Bath and Bristol. The 57-mile long canal joining these two separate river navigations was not completed until 1810 and so unlikely to have been a factor Some of our lot went from Gosport to Wiltshire, married there, moved back to Gosport, then over to the Isle of Wight and then back to Gosport. Must have been the attraction of all those HINES/HAINES folk? Take care Linda & Tony -----Original Message----- From: Rita Newton [mailto:newton.r@tesco.net] Sent: 06 July 2005 20:43 To: ENG-HAM-PORTSMOUTH-GOSPORT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PORTSMOUTH-GOSPORT] Why Wiltshire to Gosport? Hi List Had an amazing breakthrough with my HINES/HAINES family yesterday, a cousin went to Wiltshire Records Office & found baptism, marriage & burial records for our family. So we are now back to John HAINES (born abt 1753) and his wife Elizabeth (abt 1758). They had at least 5 children, all baptised at Donhead St Andrew, in Wiltshire. James, our ancestor, was baptised 16 April 1780 in Donhead St Andrew Wiltshire. He was in Frater Lane, Elson, Gosport, with a family in 1841 with children born from about 1802 onwards in Gosport/Alverstoke. I am puzzled as to the move from Wiltshire to Gosport, which was before 1802. Mode of transport? - Donhead St Andrew seemed to have a canal system, but not sure when that dates from. If anyone can suppy help/advice on this puzzle, we would really appreciate it. Rita ==== ENG-HAM-PORTSMOUTH-GOSPORT Mailing List ==== Don't go barking up the wrong tree be like a good chef and ALWAYS check your SOURCES ============================== Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx