Hi all, I begin this, my first post to the Merritt list with the sad news that my oldest known surviving Merritt relative, Mrs. Annie Chapman (nee Merritt) 1903-2003, my Great Aunt, died this Easter Sunday in a nursing home in Wakefield, W. Yorks at the age of 99 years - she had been so hoping to cross the hundred line, but it was not to be. Nevertheless she had a brave innings, losing her only daughter Cynthia on the way, and despite that sadness, showed a great interest in helping me with my genealogy quests - I still have lots of old hand-written notes she provided me with to this end. My Merritt ancestors consisted of many large families reportedly coming from the Seacroft area of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Despite the large families I am unable to find much trace of them, on censuses, or birth's, marriages and deaths registers. Is it possible they simply did not fill such records in? Or is it my search technique? The first Merritt in my line is my mother Ella, still living in Cambridge, England. My grandfather was John Joseph Merritt, born in 1900 in Upper Batley, W. Yorks where his father, George, Merritt was gardener at Oakwood Hall, where the family lived in the Lodge at the entrance gate - the lodge is still there today, not so much different from how it must have looked in those days. My mother was also born there. John Joseph died in 1983. John Joseph had brothers George Augustus b 1910, and sisters Lucy b 1902, and Edith Tyrrell Merritt b 1908 as well as Annie mentioned above. John Joseph's mother was Jessie Tyrrell born 9 Nov 1875 in Wandsworth, London - I believe there are many Tyrrell family members with a strong interest in Genealogy already so I have left that part of the line for later search. John Joseph's father, George was believed to have been born in Seacroft Green, Leeds in 1867 and he died in Upper Batley in between 1939 and 1942 - there was a George Merritt buried in Birstall cemetery, in Kirklees on 4 May 1942 which may be him. He is believed to be one of 19 children of whom I only have names for Frank (married Sarah Ann?) , Jenny, Nellie, Alice (married Denis Burton), Frederick (married Ethel ?), Joe (married Polly ?), and Emily (married Edwin Thompson), but no vital dates or other information. The father of George was Charles Merritt of whom I have no other details except that he married a lady called Isabella Lindley about whom I know nothing other than that she bore all the 19 children to Charles, and by family legend is reported to have recovered from the births by going out and jumping over a five barred gate!!! Quite some lady! Despite the size of this family, I have so far found no trace of it in Seacroft, Leeds or anywhere else. Having only first names for 8 of Isabella and Charles 19 children, I have a lot to find, and lots of links to make - so I wondered whether there is anyone else on this list researching this same Merritt branch who has already begun piecing any of this together, and can help me get started? I would be delighted to hear from you if so! Joyce Pashley-Smith, Currently living in Brussels, Belgium

Joyce, I cannot help at this time but hope to in the future. Yours sounds like a great family! I am still stuck in Florida, USA with my g-grandfather James Robert Merritt. Best of luck. Liz Subject: Merritts from Leeds (Seacroft) and Upper Batley, West Yorkshire > Hi all, > > I begin this, my first post to the Merritt list with the sad news that my oldest known surviving Merritt relative, Mrs. Annie Chapman (nee Merritt) 1903-2003, my Great Aunt, died this Easter Sunday in a nursing home in Wakefield, W. Yorks at the age of 99 years - she had been so hoping to cross the hundred line, but it was not to be. Nevertheless she had a brave innings, losing her only daughter Cynthia on the way, and despite that sadness, showed a great interest in helping me with my genealogy quests - I still have lots of old hand-written notes she provided me with to this end. > > My Merritt ancestors consisted of many large families reportedly coming from the Seacroft area of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Despite the large families I am unable to find much trace of them, on censuses, or birth's, marriages and deaths registers. Is it possible they simply did not fill such records in? Or is it my search technique? > > The first Merritt in my line is my mother Ella, still living in Cambridge, England. My grandfather was John Joseph Merritt, born in 1900 in Upper Batley, W. Yorks where his father, George, Merritt was gardener at Oakwood Hall, where the family lived in the Lodge at the entrance gate - the lodge is still there today, not so much different from how it must have looked in those days. My mother was also born there. John Joseph died in 1983. > > John Joseph had brothers George Augustus b 1910, and sisters Lucy b 1902, and Edith Tyrrell Merritt b 1908 as well as Annie mentioned above. > > John Joseph's mother was Jessie Tyrrell born 9 Nov 1875 in Wandsworth, London - I believe there are many Tyrrell family members with a strong interest in Genealogy already so I have left that part of the line for later search. > > John Joseph's father, George was believed to have been born in Seacroft Green, Leeds in 1867 and he died in Upper Batley in between 1939 and 1942 - there was a George Merritt buried in Birstall cemetery, in Kirklees on 4 May 1942 which may be him. He is believed to be one of 19 children of whom I only have names for Frank (married Sarah Ann?) , Jenny, Nellie, Alice (married Denis Burton), Frederick (married Ethel ?), Joe (married Polly ?), and Emily (married Edwin Thompson), but no vital dates or other information. > > The father of George was Charles Merritt of whom I have no other details except that he married a lady called Isabella Lindley about whom I know nothing other than that she bore all the 19 children to Charles, and by family legend is reported to have recovered from the births by going out and jumping over a five barred gate!!! Quite some lady! > > Despite the size of this family, I have so far found no trace of it in Seacroft, Leeds or anywhere else. > > Having only first names for 8 of Isabella and Charles 19 children, I have a lot to find, and lots of links to make - so I wondered whether there is anyone else on this list researching this same Merritt branch who has already begun piecing any of this together, and can help me get started? > > I would be delighted to hear from you if so! > > Joyce Pashley-Smith, > Currently living in Brussels, Belgium > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > >