Dear Roger and others on the list: I sent this original or first response to the list this morning, but it didn't get posted, maybe because I was unsubscribing my old address from the list and re-subscribing my new address. The info below was the original response to Roger's query: Roger-- There's a George Mason in Dimmick Twp in 1900, age 57, and married to Margret, 62, with children Martha, Noah, and Amy (ages 20, 19, and 18). George was a farm laborer. Sound like your guy? There's also a George Mason, farmer, in Northville, LaSalle County, on the 1880 census. The wife is Emma, and I don't know how Northville relates to Dimmick Twp, but if the two place names are related, this George could have been widowed and remarried later. His birthdate fits with the first George Mason above. Here's a description of Ruardean, a parish in Gloucestershire, in 1868: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/Ruardean/Gaz1868.html At that time there appears not to have been coal mining going on, but there's coal in the vicinity and mining could have developed later. Using the Free BMD (birth, marriage, death) site in England, I located a birth for a George Mason in 1843. Here is the search site: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/. I am on the Rootweb list for Bristol and Somerset. Ruardean seems to be located in the Forest of Dean, and you can subscribe to the list there at http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/ENG/ENG-GLOS-FOREST-DEAN.html. I've gotten a great deal of info from the Bristol list. You might give it a try with the other list. Best wishes, Tim -----Original Message----- From: zgordo@webtv.net [mailto:zgordo@webtv.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 12:45 AM To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILLASALLE] Ruardean,Gloucestershire,England 1904-1906-1910.al three are arrival dated of Passenger Ship. Onboard are the relatives of George Mason. Marfell,Brain,Knight,Blatchford.all from Ruardean.and visiting him.Most are Miners.they came here stayed awile and then went back.. I seem to have seen a picture of a Bar,with all of them out front. Sidney and Clarence Blatchford.are both pieces of a puzzle with missing pieces. keep on-keeping on-never quit. Roger