As I am still getting requests for the scan of this I thought it best to post it to the list. Hope thats okay Elmo? There are some photos and a graphic showing the family tree, unfortunately I had deleted the lot as nobody else asked but tonight we had two more requests!! If anyone wants the graphic of the family tree please contact Elmo the List administrator as I am pretty sure he will pass it on to you. If not Angela McMurty. Chris and Caroline ISLAND LIFE:The remarkable story of a farming family ANDREW WILSON meets an Isle of Wight Farmer who, thanks to the internet and our Genealogist ROBERT BARRETT, can trace his famil back 500 years. Farmer David James, 63, lives in Merstone, on the Isle of Wight, with his wife, Loiraine, 59. They have two sons, Roland, 38, a farmer, and Nicholas, 36, a horticulturist He says: I've always been too busy farming to find out much about my family's history, but now I know how rewarding it is, I'm interested in discovering more. Journeying back into the past really helps anchor you in the present The most surprising discovery is the fact that my family has lived on the Isle of Wight — with only one or two exceptions - for the past 500 years. The family story is packed with some truly fascinating characters, men and women who really do come alive when youstart 'digging around'. We started the research in the graveyard at Binstead, near Newport, where many of my ancestors were buried. From here, we managed to establish the names and dates of many family members. but information about their lives was extremely sparse. What we needed were the little details that would bring them to life. To find out where the local record office was situated, we logged onto the National Archives website (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk), which told us that a good source was the Isle of Wight Record Office (www.iwightcom/library/record_office/defaultasp). In addition, the parish registers and details of land holdings on the island, documented by local archivist Clifford Webster, proved invaluable, as did the Society of Genealogists' website (www.sog.org.uk) and the Family Records Office (www.familyrecords.gov.uk). I knew that I came from a long line of staunch Methodists and it was fascinating to discover more about my great-grandfather, Edwin, who lived between 1849 and 1933, and my grandfather. Henry, born in 1879. who was a builder and funeral director. Edwin was a local preacher who built the Methodist chapels at Binstead and in Ryde, a county alderman and councillor, and it is thanks to his lineof the family that the Jameses came into some money. His father. William, had a cousin. Charlotte Rosa Raine. born in London, in 1819. who had quite a modest background -- her mother. Ann Joblin, was a shoemaker's daughter. In 1818, Ann married Richard Raine. who was Winston Churchill's grandfather's land agent. Richard wisely advised the James family to invest money In Lambeth Water Works shares — the shares shot up in value and made them a small fortune. A great deal of this information came about by dilligent research over the The London Metropolitan Archives (www.cityoflondon.gov.uk) gave us details of the water works, while the Hampshire Record Office helped us track down willsof the family. The internet also showed that one of my ancestors — Robert James, my great-great- great-great-great-great-grandfather - went to Portsmouth. He set himself up as an innkeeper on The Point, which was then a scurrilous place, full of criminals and prostitutes. We typed his name into the Public Records Office internet site (now www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) and it threw up listings regarding a legal case. Robert. who was born in 1655. had had an argument with his landlord, who accused him of neglecting his property. Other documents at Portsmouth City Records (www.portsmouth recordsoffice.co.uk), showed that his mother- in-law, Susanna Earles, was sent to Jail for keeping a bawdy house. Finding out things like that can be a little surprising at first, but I think it Just adds to the richness of the family's history. I've always felt intimately connected with the Isle of Wight - and. thanks to the net, now I know why. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.572 / Virus Database: 362 - Release Date: 27/01/2004