Jack, My current searches into the FIELDENs of Todmorden are to try to establish whether and to what extent there was any truth in the belief held by a now deceased friend and in-law, Don Whitehead. Don believed that his James FIELDEN's tree was related to that of one of my own Social History heroes,John FIELDEN M.P. Don died before I was able to follow up his statement. It just happens that in my teaching days I had an academic interest in Social and Labour History so connections between branches and twigs on my Family Tree and Social matters interest me. The James FIELDEN referred to was only one of the 16 or so possible James FIELDENs in the 1881 Census.I have established that the James was the one who, in 1881, lived at No.4 Dobroyd and by 1911 was living at 2 Sanworth Street,Halifax Rd.,Todmorden. Don claimed that some of his other forebears were involved in the construction of the Castle.He also stated that the Castle, before it became a Religious Retreat, was owned by a direct descendant, an Air-line pilot, of John FIELDEN M.P. Regrettably Don died on the day our joint grand-child was married and his papers, which I had seen along with a Family Bible, are now missing. It is not my intention to compile the WHITEHEAD/FIELDEN family tree but for the sake of Don's widow and descendants I hope to cast some light on the mystery. In this respect, due mainly to people like Linda and others on this and other Lists, I now am aware of the large number of descendants of the original 17thC. FIELDING of Todmorden and with a bit more delving and corroboration I hope to pass the results of my search to my son-in-law and Don's and my grandchildren. Regards, Ernest (Southport) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Davies" <jack.davies@idnet.co.uk> To: <ENG-TODMORDEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2002 9:11 PM