Dear Wendy Thank you very much for your kind response to my query regarding the BELL family of Hornby, nr. Gt. Smeaton. I have noticed your BELL names from time to time and wondered whether they may have been connected to one of my earlier family lines. My John BELL was born in Stokesley in 1760 son to a Francis BELL and Ann APPLEBY who married in Hutton Rudby in 1745. Francis was a "day labourer" at Busby and he and Ann had nine known children. John married Mary BRADLEY of Middleton upon Leven in 1789 and they had two sons - James, 1790 and John 1792. Family records suggest they also had one or two daughters plus another son, Richard, but I have never found them. John senior was miller at Hornby until his death in 1836. James (b. 1790) married Margaret STEPHENSON at Great Smeaton Church in 1815 and they had six children. Diane Johansen Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 14:47:57 +0000 (GMT) From: Wendy <hawkyard_wbs@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [ENG-NORTH-YORKS] ENG-NORTH-YORKS Digest, Vol 3, Issue 23 To: eng-north-yorks@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <337510.33048.qm@web32704.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 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