Hi Bob, Don't be confused about the Family Groups on the PRA website. They are just our way of naming the oldest ancestor for each family tree. One day we hope to find the common link that will merge many of our family groups through either primary sources or our DNA study. No, you are not in the wrong place, either !! As genealogists, all of our Pennington families start our trees with what we know ; the most recent name and place and work backwards. The PRA has been accumulating Pennington family histories for over 30 years and we have a data base that includes over 50,000 Pennington, Penington, Pinnington, Pynyngton and other surnames. To save some confusion there are 2 Pennington Mailing Lists. One, [email protected] (which you have posted to) the other is [email protected] I subscribe to both lists so that I find more cousins like you. As you have read on the PRA website, there are always new family groups being formed. I have checked for your James, Richard, James Richard Henry and Ralph Pennington. Also, Pedersen and Cartwright surnames. There were no matches for the time period you specified but there are a number of possibilities. I am sharing your email with the PRA Mailing List in hopes that your names will 'ring a bell' with our many members and possibly help both of you add branches to your trees. In order to receive mail, you need to subscribe to the list, just click here [email protected] and type SUBSCRIBE on the subject line. That's it - it's free ! Some of our members subscribe to the PRA mailing list only and is the reason I have forwarded your email to our list. I am very interested about the Pennington China in Liverpool. Can you tell us more about that? We currently have 2 Family Groups that have made their way to/from England. They are Groups 3, Lancashire, ENG. (Trisha Bennett [email protected] ) and Group 27, Muncaster, ENG (Sidney Graveston (no email). I hope that my PRA cousins in cyberspace will be able to find a link to your family. Should you decide to pursue your Pennington heritage - you may want to check our website again. In particular, the DNA study; the new www.myfamily.com (where we are going to move all of our Pennington archives); Starting a new Family Group. I know that Nick Pennington, our DNA Coordinator will be very interested in your ties to England. Most of us are stuck in America trying to reach the shores of England and beyond. I hope my reply has helped sort out the confusion. One thing is definite, all of us Pennington's are trying to find our cousins around the world. The more we post inquiries the better the odds of finding our extended families. So, you have started in the right direction. Should you be interested in starting a new Family Group for your line, let us know and we will help you get started. Getting your family published can open many doors to the past. BOB, when you reply to this mail, click the "reply all' button - it will reach both mailing lists and make sure you have subscribed. Happy hunting! Rene'e Davis, CFO ARD, Family Groups PRA - Group 9 Pennington Research Association, Inc. www.penningtonresearch.org ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 11:59 PM Subject: [Pennington-L] OK, I'm confused about PRA family groups. > Cousins -- > > I was looking at the PRA website tonight, with a possible view to joining, > and I've become completely confused on the subject of the Groups. > > My paternal grandmother was Emma Florence Mary Pennington, who came to the > United States from Liverpool in 1922 shortly after her about-to-be-spouse, > Charles Hallett Pedersen. Her ancestors appear to have knocked around > northwestern England, mostly in the Liverpool area, for several generations > at least. The family is said to have been involved in the manufacturing > and/or distribution of china, though I do not know for sure that I'm > connected with the modestly famous Pennington china works of Liverpool. > > At this point, what I know about these folks is not much better than > hearsay. I don't yet know where much of the information I have came from or > whether it is accurate. That being said, the earliest ancestor I think I > know about is one Ralph Pennington, born 14 December 1783, who was wed to a > Mary. They had a number of children, the youngest of whom was a James (or > maybe Richard) Pennington, who was born 26 May 1819. > > This James/Richard, who is said to be 'of Burslem', married one Mary > Cartwright on 2 December 1849. (I have a copy of this marriage certificate > on order). Their issue included one John Henry Pennington, who's the father > of the Emma mentioned above. > > Here's my confusion. It looks from what I've seen that the 'groups' are all > keyed in to an earliest US ancestor. In my case, the earliest US ancestor > constructed crossword puzzles in between her meetings of the Daughters of > the British Empire. :) Can I be said to fit into the family groups at all? > Is the PRA mostly aimed at folks searching for US ancestors? Am I really > kind of in the wrong place? > > Thanks for your patience. Guidance, advice, or knowledgable reprimand would > all be appreciated. > > Bob Pedersen > Kansas City, Missouri > > > > > ==== PENNINGTON Mailing List ==== > Threaded archives can be found at > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/pennington > or for a search engine try > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > >