On Feb 21, 2010, at 12:35 PM, Angela McMurtry wrote: > Last week I met a couple who were researching the THOMAS family on the > Island. If you have connections to the THOMAS family please contact me and I > will pass on their email address. > Angela Angela, I have Thomas antecedents on the Island. That most recent in my family is John Thomas (born c. 1812; dued c, 1895). The British Census of 1881 lists him as having been born at Apse Heath, Newchurch and from some source, I have that he died at Godshill. The census also describes him as a common carter/carrier. That census also lists his and his families address in 1881 as Poplar Cottage, Church Street, Ventnor. Somewhere, but I'm not sure where, I turned up his father as being a William Thomas (1773-1852) but no other information, other than that he was also a carter. The census and church records (on-line courtesy of the IOWFHS) also provided me with John Thomas' 11 children, one of whom, Ellen Phillips (named after her mother) Thomas was one of my great grandmother. That's all I've been able to dig up on the web. Given the commonness of John and William as given names and Thomas as a surname, and the suspicion that many Thomases can be found on the Isle of Wight, I've all but given up hope of turning up anything further, short of a trip to the IOW devoted to just chasing Thomases. Maybe, you know something I don't know. Cheers, Kelvin Kean Elverson PA (now seeing the sun 10 to 14 days after being buried in four feet of snow)