Hi Andy, I am well familiar with Steve Whitwam's site. I even managed to visit him a couple of years ago when I was in UK he has a lovely dog and lives on the edge of good walking areas in Golcar (I got my doggy fix for a short while as I missed mine). He had visited my father several years earlier and he has helped enormously. When I first started family history using mainly my computer I likened it to doing a jigsaw with only a handful of pieces given at any one time. Today that handful has grown enormously but we still are not given the whole set of pieces or even the picture. I keep reading items from people who are able to look at the original records and I am envious but thanks to the growing army of people interested we are getting there very well. I need to purchase some more booklets from HDFHS but keep putting it off. With the ready availability of census data I get overwhelmed with information and I don't really have to struggle with the pre 1837 ancestors but can simply move on to look at the other lines who have census data I haven't yet noted. Then the war records are becoming available and these are magic pieces of information. I found the absolute proof I needed that I did in fact have the correct woman who was my mother's natural mother from her husband's war records even though he had died long before mum was born and clearly wasn't the father. The records included address, names etc well into 1920 and I found the same address in 1919 which was on my mum's birth certificate. I also discovered the children of the marriage so I had 5 children including mum and dates of birth of the 3 legitimate ones and addresses. It was a real treasure trove. I also discovered that my husband's grandfather (he lived with these grandparents during WW2) had been wounded and received a small pension, something we hadn't known. Another grandfather was discharged unfit for duty because he had a heart issue (sounded like a thyroid problem). If you are lucky enough to discover one of these it takes you well beyond the 1911 census. Well thanks to those who have taken the trouble to transcribe church and Parish records, it is much appreciated. There is reward in helping others by sharing what one knows. Steve Whitwam is great at doing this. He even pointed me to the Cemetery quite a few of my WOOD ancestors are buried in and my dad drove me up to Pole Moor Cemetery and started telling me of family gatherings he remembered going to here. Dad just had his 90th birthday and he and mum moved to Lindley a few years ago to downsize and Mum (who died a couple of years ago - my reason for visiting) had chosen a church she liked (Methodist I think) which I discovered was the same place my grandparents were buried in their churchyard. Dad's SCHOFIELD relatives all came from Lindley. Because of the rules governing Parishes, I married in St. Stephens in Lindley even though we lived in Quarmby and Longwood church was closer. They moved to Salendine Nook and were still in the Parish of St. Stephens so my sisters also married there. I think if we could have the benefit of a time machine I would find I followed in the footsteps of ancestors often without realising it. I'm currently trying to complete my husband's LOCKWOOD and ELLAM details and it is the ELLAM ones which have tempted me and some others to go further back than the 1837. This family has proved extremely interesting, with inquests and a ghost story so far and some real insight into the living conditions in lower Huddersfield and greater understanding why so many children died. I think it was a bit healthier in Meltham where the LOCKWOOD families seem to have raised their children (a bit short on getting married were some of them our direct ancestor had 4 with no father mentioned) I am trying to record all the facts I can find and photos into a publisher format so that I might encourage my descendents to read and learn and also so that my research won't be lost. I'm even starting to prod my husband's memory and occasionally get him interested (he was the one who started me off doing this but like our children seldom shows much interest.) Jean in S. Australia. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Micklethwaite" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 1:13 AM Subject: Re: [WRY] Almondbury Queries > The IGI has partial coverage in many respects. Hugh Wallis' site > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/ > says which parishes have coverage - but it's not quite complete - I've > found a couple of batches which aren't mentioned there. > > Which reminds me - you MUST check out Steve's site > http://www.whitwam.co.uk > if you have Colne Valley connections if you haven't already. Well worth > it. >