Laurie I just came across your response below; I missed your original post. We are all volunteers on this list and only a proportion of us actually live in or near to Somerset. Somerset has a low population density but is one of the largest counties in the country. Churchstanton sits at the far south west of the county on the border with Devon, 53 miles from Bristol and 40 miles from the eastern border with Wiltshire; it would be a 50 mile round trip for me. There is only one motorway that runs the length of the county; all other roads are single carriageway or single track in places. The weather has been appalling lately with high winds and driving rain at times. Most of this part of the country sits on sedimentary rock which means that most of the local headstones are sandstone or similar; you rarely get readable headstones before 1850 so most of us that do check churchyards could be said to be wasting our time - it doesn't stop us looking though. You can ask nicely You can hope but if no one on the list lives near to your families' churchyard you have no 'right' to expect someone to get out there and look for you. Philip Maddocks ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laurie Thompson" <lt030329@bigpond.net.au> To: "Sue Ahrens" <sue.ahrens@ntlworld.com>; "Paul Kirby" <prkirby@bigpond.net.au> Cc: <ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:26 AM Subject: [ENG-SOM] Fw: Churchstanton Grave yard > Sue and Paul . Apparently there are no kind souls in Somerset . Laurie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Laurie Thompson > To: ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com > Cc: Sue Ahrens ; Paul Kirby > Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:59 PM > Subject: Churchstanton Grave yard > > > Hi Is there a kind soul who can tell me whether there are head stones for > William Osborn who died 19th April 1803 and John Osborn died 23rd March > 1857 who are buried in the Churchstanton cemetery . Also any other Osborns > . Thanks for reading my plea . > Laurie Thompson Australia > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Well said Phil. I have for a long time felt that SOME listers "expect" someone/anyone/everyone to jump at any request they make. Having joined the list they feel every question should be answerable by list members. Resources have been minimal, but are gradually, steadily increasing as more VOLUNTEERS work at transcribing Parish Registers, Non-Conformist Registers, Census Information, and other Family, Social & Local History records in order to shed light on the past. And having done the above, what does the transcriber do with them and how does one access them? One way is to put the info on a website and publicise it. Can get costly for an individual and if they die, the site closes. Another way is to ling together in groups and share resources with like minded researchers. If there are a number of group owners, if one dies the group (and the resources) live on. A new owner can be appointed. This is the rationale behind the Somerset Hundreds. Of the 39 New groups (Frome already had over 400) in less than 2 months 4 have acquired over 40 members and 3 more over 60. Jim Group Owner Somerset Hundreds Groups see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/somersetfamilyhistory/ On 30/03/2008, Philip Maddocks <listenat@talktalk.net> wrote: > > Laurie > > I just came across your response below; I missed your original post. > > We are all volunteers on this list and only a proportion of us actually > live > in or near to Somerset. Somerset has a low population density but is one > of > the largest counties in the country. Churchstanton sits at the far south > west of the county on the border with Devon, 53 miles from Bristol and 40 > miles from the eastern border with Wiltshire; it would be a 50 mile round > trip for me. There is only one motorway that runs the length of the > county; > all other roads are single carriageway or single track in places. The > weather has been appalling lately with high winds and driving rain at > times. > > Most of this part of the country sits on sedimentary rock which means that > most of the local headstones are sandstone or similar; you rarely get > readable headstones before 1850 so most of us that do check churchyards > could be said to be wasting our time - it doesn't stop us looking though. > > You can ask nicely > You can hope > but if no one on the list lives near to your families' churchyard you have > no 'right' to expect someone to get out there and look for you. > > Philip Maddocks > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Laurie Thompson" <lt030329@bigpond.net.au> > To: "Sue Ahrens" <sue.ahrens@ntlworld.com>; "Paul Kirby" > <prkirby@bigpond.net.au> > Cc: <ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:26 AM > Subject: [ENG-SOM] Fw: Churchstanton Grave yard > > > > Sue and Paul . Apparently there are no kind souls in Somerset . Laurie > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Laurie Thompson > > To: ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com > > Cc: Sue Ahrens ; Paul Kirby > > Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:59 PM > > Subject: Churchstanton Grave yard > > > > > > Hi Is there a kind soul who can tell me whether there are head stones > for > > William Osborn who died 19th April 1803 and John Osborn died 23rd March > > 1857 who are buried in the Churchstanton cemetery . Also any other > Osborns > > . Thanks for reading my plea . > > Laurie Thompson Australia > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Jim http://www.payman.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk Over 15,000 Names in the forest Have now found the WOODs and WOODLANDs (and a BUSH) there are BIRDs in the trees (including SPARROWs) Have PRINCEs and KINGs but mostly Ag Labs - Happy Hunting see also: http://www.fromeresearch.org.uk http://www.dorset-opc.com

Phillips . Thanks for your description applying to head stones . As I said to Jim I am a pot stirrer but very appreciative of the hard work put in by volunteers . I have been a volunteer on numerous projects all my life . I thought I had asked nicely but after 50 years of trying to find my family`s ancestors frustration does set in . My apologies and regards from Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Philip Maddocks To: eng-somerset@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 6:35 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Fw: Churchstanton Grave yard Laurie I just came across your response below; I missed your original post. We are all volunteers on this list and only a proportion of us actually live in or near to Somerset. Somerset has a low population density but is one of the largest counties in the country. Churchstanton sits at the far south west of the county on the border with Devon, 53 miles from Bristol and 40 miles from the eastern border with Wiltshire; it would be a 50 mile round trip for me. There is only one motorway that runs the length of the county; all other roads are single carriageway or single track in places. The weather has been appalling lately with high winds and driving rain at times. Most of this part of the country sits on sedimentary rock which means that most of the local headstones are sandstone or similar; you rarely get readable headstones before 1850 so most of us that do check churchyards could be said to be wasting our time - it doesn't stop us looking though. You can ask nicely You can hope but if no one on the list lives near to your families' churchyard you have no 'right' to expect someone to get out there and look for you. Philip Maddocks ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laurie Thompson" <lt030329@bigpond.net.au> To: "Sue Ahrens" <sue.ahrens@ntlworld.com>; "Paul Kirby" <prkirby@bigpond.net.au> Cc: <ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:26 AM Subject: [ENG-SOM] Fw: Churchstanton Grave yard > Sue and Paul . Apparently there are no kind souls in Somerset . Laurie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Laurie Thompson > To: ENG-SOMERSET-L@rootsweb.com > Cc: Sue Ahrens ; Paul Kirby > Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:59 PM > Subject: Churchstanton Grave yard > > > Hi Is there a kind soul who can tell me whether there are head stones for > William Osborn who died 19th April 1803 and John Osborn died 23rd March > 1857 who are buried in the Churchstanton cemetery . Also any other Osborns > . Thanks for reading my plea . > Laurie Thompson Australia > >