Diana, It was for work that they moved and Birmingham was where the work was.  Farms were laying off staff because, with the repeal of the Corn Laws, cheap grain was coming in from North America and undercutting what the locals could produce. Growers' margins suffered and some were obliged to use mechanisation to compete, which meant fewer jobs. Village mills which handled local produce relied on water and wind power. They were put out of business by steam power which needed coal and capital and was concentrated where coal was readily available. Without the village mill, farmers had to take their produce further afield which again hit their margins. The steam traction engine was a sort of interim measure. These were hired out to farmers to do the ploughing and harvests but removed more permanent jobs.  Jeff   . ----- Original Message ---- From: Diana Robinson <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, 31 October, 2008 4:28:10 PM 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 -----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 _____________________________________________ Have you considered adding "postems" to "your" events on www.freebmd.org.uk , giving your contact details?  Other researchers will then be able to make contact. Click on the info button to add your postem. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message