Hi Connie Connie Hedges wrote: I am still looking for my great grandfather Alfred Hedges family. Alfred had a brother Charles . They came to the United States around 1850 from Liverpool. A letter written in 1910 by Alfred's wife says his father, grandfather and gt grandfather were all named William. Connie also wrote: > Thanks to Sue and Alan for your replies. Here is a little more on Alfred > and Charles: > Alfred was born June 12, 1830 in Mordon near Swirsdon, (Swindson?) > Wiltershire England. He was about 19 when he came to the United States. > Charles came at the same time bringing his wife. They had 3 children: > Thomas, George, and Giles. Charles died in 1853 in Rochester, New York. > His wife went back to England but the sons stayed in the United States. > I believe the sons were all born in England. Your e-mail, although not having all that much to make me think that we have a family link, does nevertheless ring a few bells. I assume that the Liverpool connection is only that they sailed from there, not that they had ever lived there. The bells are Rochester, New York, that one of the sons was called Giles, and that Moredon (now part of SWINDON i.e. not Swirsdon or Swindson) is only a few miles from Faringdon, where many of "my" HEDGES come from. Alan King, who has already responded, is also related to the same group of Faringdon HEDGES as me. There are a few William's in the family , although on the face of it, they don't look to be the same lot as yours. First my line back to the point where we might start looking for a link: My paternal grandmother - Clara Agnes HEDGES b 1851 Bow, Middlesex d 1934 Wembley, Middx She was daughter of My gt grandfather - Francis HEDGES bap 1821 Stroud Green, near Newbury, Berks, d. 1870 Bow, Middx He was the eldest son of My gt gt grandfather -Thomas HEDGES born 1796 Faringdon, Berks, d 1843, Bow and Mary Ann NEW b 1800 Chaddleworth Berks, d 1839 Bow. Thomas was son of My gt gt gt grandparents - John HEDGES 1773 - 1832 (Faringdon) and Margaret GILES, (1773 - 1860) married 1795 Faringdon. John was son of My 4 x gt grandfather - William HEDGES b about 1739 Shrivenham, which is even nearer to Swindon (less than 5 miles). He also had a son William (married Ann HUMPHREY) and they had a son William b 1789 Faringdon - nothing known about him. Also Wm. and Ann had sons which included a Charles and a Thomas, but I don't think that they are anything to do with yours as we can trace their descendants to the present day and they don't seem to have ever gone to the US. These of course are all very common first names - Giles is the only one even sightly out of the ordinary. So there is the first hint of a link - the name of GILES which your Alfred gave to one of his sons, although both GILES and HEDGES seem to have been quite common names in the area. Back to my lot: My gt grandfather Francis (see above) had a younger brother, Frederick James HEDGES , b 1823 (London) died 1901 Bowmanville, Canada. His eldest son was: George F HEDGES, born 1851, Rochester, New York, died 1920 Toronto, married Caroline STERLING. My 3 x gt grandparents John HEDGES and Margaret GILES had a son William HEDGES born 1799. I have guessed that he died before 1832 because his father does not name him in his Will, but perhaps this was because they had lost touch and that he went to New York at around the same time as his nephew Frederick James. With the help of Phil Long of Berks FHS, who lives near Toronto, we have traced the children of George F HEDGES, namely Hubert George HEDGES 1878-1912 (Toronto) and his sister Clara L HEDGES 1881- 1953 (Toronto). I have found no evidence that there are any other descendants of the HEDGES who went to New York or Canada, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any. You might just be the one I'm looking for! Does anything I've written suggest any links to you? (Or of course to anyone else, particularly those HEDGES descendants in Canada who might be a legacy of those who ventured across the Atlantic in the 1850's?). I have several photos of them, but contact seems to have broken off around the 1880's as nothing later than then. Good luck to all in 2002! Bob (in Sidmouth, Devon, UK) > > . > > Connie > >