Diane, This won't answer your question, but I am also looking for BELLs in the Hornby/Great Smeaton area. My 3xgt grandfather, another William BELL was born there somewhere between 1811 and 1817 (according to various census entries), apparently the son of Christopher BELL (according to marriage details). We haven't been able to find any record of his birth/baptism yet. He moved at some point to Chilton, Co. Durham and worked as a platelayer on the railways. There was apparently a first marriage we haven't yet identified and then he married Elizabeth HODGSON, daughter of John HODGSON, in Chilton in 1841. (I have the date somewhere, but not to hand). It looks like the Christopher BELL bp 1768, Gt Smeaton (from IGI) may have been his father, if that Christopher survived childhood. However I've also been unable to identify this Christopher in any other records, yet. Perhaps we might be able to keep an eye out for each other's lines as well as our own - they could even link, further back? Wendy Hawkyard Bell Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 11:58:37 -0000 From: "Diane Johansen" Subject: [ENG-NORTH-YORKS] BELL, Hornby nr Great Smeaton William George BELL was born in Hornby, near Gt. Smeaton, in 1827. He was son to James BELL by his wife Margaret (STEPHENSON). At some point he married Sophia THOMPSON (born Louth, Lincs about 1824) though I have not managed to find a suitable marriage (despite looking at all name variations and locations!) On the 1851 Hornby Census William and Sophia are living with their daughter Emma, age 1. William was a grocer and cabinet maker in the village. I sent off for Emma's birth certificate and from this I found out that her full name was Emma Stephenson BELL, she was born in August 1849 and that her mother, Sophia, was previously THOMPSON. I would be interested in any baptism for Emma at Great Smeaton around that time and any suggestions of where to start looking to find out what happened to the family after 1851 because they disappear! Many thanks! Diane Johansen Researching BELL, Gt. Smeaton, Middleton-on-Leven, Yarm, Ingleby Arncliffe ------------------------------ To contact the ENG-NORTH-YORKS list administrator, send an email to ENG-NORTH-YORKS-admin@rootsweb.com. To post a message to the ENG-NORTH-YORKS mailing list, send an email to ENG-NORTH-YORKS@rootsweb.com. __________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-NORTH-YORKS-request@rootsweb.com with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the email with no additional text. End of ENG-NORTH-YORKS Digest, Vol 3, Issue 23 ********************************************** --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! - a smarter inbox.