Hi Margaret, I have a Thomas Westall (11 Sep 1808, Cookham). According to my records his parents were James Westall (1767, Hungerford) and Nancy Medden (1766, Bray Berks) who married 2 Feb 1795 in Bray Berks. James can then be traced back to William Westall (abt 1638) who I think married a Mary Chilvester (1638) in abt 1660. But it's all very speculative I'm afraid! Sorry but I don't have a Thomas John Westall on my tree. The Warrington Westall's were descendants of my great grandfather Henry Westall (1845, Canford Dorset) who married local girls and settled in the area. They came to Lancashire to work on the Manchester Ship Canal - following the footsteps of the mighty Thomas Andrew Walker who became chief contractor after the severn tunnel project was completed in 1887. After the MSC my folks followed Walker to work on the Barry Docks and I was born in nearby Cardiff as a result. It's a long story of how I got to be back up north but I have stood on the spot in Rixton where my folks lived from 1887-1893. I've even got a brick from the foundations of the hut which is now long gone and overgrown by weeds. My folks helped to build that stretch of the Manchester ship canal and I'm very proud of them. There are quite a few of my Westall cousins still living in Rixton and nearby Leigh. Fred -------------------------------------------------- From: "Margaret Wilkinson" <margaretjanew@hotmail.com> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 9:58 PM To: <westall@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [WESTALL] Westall connections > > Fred, It is nice to know that someone has traced their WESTALL line back > so far. > > I am 'stuck' with my 3G grandfather, Thomas WESTALL, born c 1805 - 1807 in > Reading, Berkshire, according to census information. > He was a boot and shoemaker in London, where my 2G grandfather, Thomas > John WESTALL, was born. > Mick WESTALL's family were also London shoemakers, living in the same > road, Dudley Street, as my family in 1851 census. Unless the situation > has changed, he is no further back either. > > Didn't know there was an appreciable number of WESTALL's from Warrington. > I live on the outskirts of Warrington - if anything specific could be > looked up locally, I am willing to take a look. > > Margaret > > >> From: fred_westall@msn.com >> To: WESTALL@rootsweb.com >> Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:45:05 +0100 >> Subject: [WESTALL] Westall connections >> >> Hi Bob, >> >> Wow ... you really do have a great database of Westall's! By the way, who >> is the earliest Westall on your database? >> >> It seems that my earliest ancestor was William Westall (1638) who married >> Margery Willis (1630) on 1 April 1658 in Aldbourne Wilts. They were my 8x >> great grandparents. Their son, William Westall (1659) married Sarah >> Sylvester or Chilvester. Their son Edward Westall (1695) married Sarah >> Barnet (1698) in 1718, and then my line continues through son John >> Westall >> (1718) who married Hester Benfield (1720) in 1745. >> >> I think that the Richard Westall RA (the artist) line can be traced back >> much further but so far we have not been able to definitively link the >> Norfolk line of Westall's with my own line from Wiltshire/Berkshire. We >> have come tantalizingly close but no cigar yet! But I am quietly >> confident >> that there is a connection linking most of the southern English Westall's >> together. Currently I am trying to find the link between the Trowbridge >> Westall's and my own line. I think there may be a link via the Westall >> group in East Isley but I have not found it yet. >> >> I notice there is also a large group of Westall's based in the >> Oswaldwistle >> area of Lancashire near Huddersfield. I would love the find how that >> group >> came into being - was it a completely independent line or did they join >> the >> migration from the south to the north during the industrial revolution? >> The >> Westall's of North (Fylde) and West (Liverpool) Lancashire and Cheshire >> (Warrington) can all be traced back to remote branches of my own line. So >> far I have not found any Scottish Westall's but I have a lot of Scottish >> blood from my mother's side! >> >> Like you say Genealogy is fascinating. I only got into it about 3 years >> ago >> but now I am completely hooked. I am particularly interested in the lives >> of my ancestors, the historical context and the patterns of migration >> throughout the family. There's a lot still to do I think! ;0) >> >> Fred Westall (the third) > >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> WESTALL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get all your favourite content with the slick new MSN Toolbar - FREE > http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/111354027/direct/01/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > WESTALL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >