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/