With reference to the movement of people from rural areas to cities, this is well known. Novels by Mrs Gaskell, such as 'North and South' and 'Mary Barton', deal with this topic in detail. Nailsworth, where my HESKINS family lived was no rural idyll. The noise from the woollen mills was no great that it was not recommended as a place where ladies of a delicate constitution would choose to live according to a contemporary message displayed in the Dunkirk Mills exhibition. When the mill wheels are put into working mode it is almost impossible to hear another person speaking... Members of the HESKINS family did move elsewhere during the first half of the nineteenth century. My own part of the family moved to Wotton-under-Edge. Ancestor Henry Matthew HESKINS moved on to Bristol, Wells, London, Witham [Essex] and died in Worcester. But he was a brushmaker and brushmakers tended to travel. Another family line moved to Bristol, where they prospered for a while. Others are found in Birmingham, Cheltenham, Bath and Neath in south Wales, not all from the Nailsworth family but all probably derived from a family living in Wotton-under-Edge in the sixteenth century. None of the HESKINses went overseas at this stage. A number of Horsley/Nailsworth residents did sail for the Antipodes when the Gloucestershire cloth industry went in to a decline, however. Nailsworth Mill, owned by Abraham Marsh FLINT was amongst the last of the mills to continue in business in the industrial village. It had previously been run by HESKINS, BARNARD and BLISS. As has been said by Jane ...the times they were a'changing... Cheers, Janet Heskins

My Blackwell line moved from Bisley/Miserden to Birmingham around 1830, was there any organised method of attracting manpower into Birmingham or just "word of mouth". My rural 4xgg Richard Blackwell worked for the railway on his 1841 marriage certificate (Birmingham) does anyone know if the railway was near Bisley/Miserden for him to have had a railway connection before he arrived in Birmingham? Richard gave Miserdine as his place of birth on the 1851 Birmingham census. Brian Blackwell Sechelt BC

I'm particularly interested in why folks moved to Birmingham. I have one line that was solidly in the south-west, and then suddenly appears in Birmingham, and have often wondered what led to the switch. Happy hunting! Diana Robinson (nee Gardner) Now in Rochester, NY, USA -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 6:13 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [GLS] Rural Gloucestershire to the cities With reference to the movement of people from rural areas to cities, this is well known. Novels by Mrs Gaskell, such as 'North and South' and 'Mary Barton', deal with this topic in detail. Nailsworth, where my HESKINS family lived was no rural idyll. The noise from the woollen mills was no great that it was not recommended as a place where ladies of a delicate constitution would choose to live according to a contemporary message displayed in the Dunkirk Mills exhibition. When the mill wheels are put into working mode it is almost impossible to hear another person speaking... Members of the HESKINS family did move elsewhere during the first half of the nineteenth century. My own part of the family moved to Wotton-under-Edge. Ancestor Henry Matthew HESKINS moved on to Bristol, Wells, London, Witham [Essex] and died in Worcester. But he was a brushmaker and brushmakers tended to travel. Another family line moved to Bristol, where they prospered for a while. Others are found in Birmingham, Cheltenham, Bath and Neath in south Wales, not all from the Nailsworth family but all probably derived from a family living in Wotton-under-Edge in the sixteenth century. None of the HESKINses went overseas at this stage. A number of Horsley/Nailsworth residents did sail for the Antipodes when the Gloucestershire cloth industry went in to a decline, however. Nailsworth Mill, owned by Abraham Marsh FLINT was amongst the last of the mills to continue in business in the industrial village. It had previously been run by HESKINS, BARNARD and BLISS. As has been said by Jane ...the times they were a'changing... Cheers, Janet Heskins

Hi, I'm part of a large THOMPSON family, from both the Bitton, GLS and Publow, SOM areas. I finally learned that several of them migrated to Selly Oak, nr Bham, for work (Elliot's Metal's a key new employer) when the local copper mills closed abt 1860. Cheers, Marsha Stringer (nee MEERE) [email protected] USA www.bittonfamilies.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Diana Robinson Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 12:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [GLS] Rural Gloucestershire to the cities I'm particularly interested in why folks moved to Birmingham. I have one line that was solidly in the south-west, and then suddenly appears in Birmingham, and have often wondered what led to the switch. Happy hunting! Diana Robinson (nee Gardner) Now in Rochester, NY, USA