Hi Sandra. I would suggest you join the Middleton List. Oldham, Chadderton and Hopwood are within this area by about 5 miles. Middleton had a famous local poet in the mid 1800's named Samuel Bamford. He was born in 1788 and died in 1872. Kind regards Mike Morris Toronto Canada Ex Manchester and Middleton ----- Original Message ----- From: sandra skupham To: ENG-LANCS-PRESTON-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 10:06 AM Subject: bamford Hi, I am just starting to research my materal grand-mother's family. On the 1881 census they are down as: Hugh Bamford born at Bretherton(32) Mary Bamford Maclesfield(32 Philip F. Bamford Oldham(12) Betty Bamford born at Chadderton(10) Sarah Bamford(my Gran.) Chadderton(8) Thomas Bamford Chadderton(6) Harry Bamford Hopwood(2) Ralph Hopwood(3 months) Do any of you have any Bamfords in your tree that may relate to mine? Thanks Sandra --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237