For Ernest - How are you going on trying to connect your James Fielden with the illustrious Fielden Dynasty emanating from Old Joshua and culminating in John Fielden MP ? (The Fielden Brothers, Spinners and Manufacturers.) I have a wonderful book on Todmorden by John Travis, who wrote several on that area. This one is "Notes Mainly on Todmorden (historical and biographical)", printed in 1896. There is much about the Fieldens and as I re-read it I will see if I can help you in any way. However, did you realise the Fieldens were Quakers? They worshipped at Shewbroad Meeting House mostly, and also at Mankinholes. The Fielden brothers built the Unitarian Church in Todmorden - now disused I think, but still a magnificent landmark. I have no idea how you get hold of Quaker records, although I do know that they were exempt from the requirement to marry in a C of E Church many years before other denominations were. The book that you have - any info. on the Crossleys would be a great addition to my family story. The Crossleys mentioned in the book will no doubt be the Crossleys of Scaitcliffe, an extremely wealthy aristocratic family, gentlemen and army officers etc. They did a lot for St. Mary's Church, including paying for a lot of re-building. John Crossley was Magistrate and Chief Constable (not in the police). I am possibly related, but only in a very minor and insignificant way, but I am still interested in the goings on of the family. Enough for now, Happy Hunting Linda Linda.Briggs1@btinternet.com

Linda, Always glad to hear from you. I am still struggling to connect James FIELDEN to John the M.P. I did manage to determine James's father as William (a saddler) and I did manage to find an article in the April issue of Lancashire Life a neat history of John's life which confirmed his vital dates as 1784-1849 and that he was buried in Todmorden (but not exactly where). This frustrating book I have "Concerning Todmorden Parish" is scattered with references to Todmorden personages but as it states John Fielden died in 1894 I do wonder about its accuracy in these matters.The fact that Mrs. John FIELDEN of Dobroyd Castle is mentioned in connection with St.Mary's might suggest that either there was another John FIELDEN (possibly of Dawson Weir) who was C of E. or that the wife/widow of John the M.P. was not persuaded to follow the Unitarians or the Quakers. I suspect it is the former as there is a reference to many FIELDENs in respect of the replacement of the Church Bell in 1855 when John F M.P. was no longer alive. There a quite a few refs. to CROSSLEY including at least one to Samuel CROSSLEY of Patmos (where my James FIELDEN married).I will have to write out a set of structured notes on the relevant names to try to make sense of the jumble. I have put out a Inter-Library request for "The Fieldens of Todmorden"(1995) by Brian Law and "John Fielden's Todmorden" (1994) by Linda Croft.I am not very hopeful although there are at least 16 copies out there they are all in University Libraries and I am not sure whether they are will be available on the Inter Library system. I'll have to wait and see. Kind regards, Ernest (Southport) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda" <Linda.Briggs1@btinternet.com> To: <ENG-TODMORDEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 6:40 PM