The above subject line is a question that has often occupied my mind! Since I, my father and grandfather in the direct Stockdill line were all born in Bradford, I obviously regard myself as a Bradfordian and dyed-in-the-wool (literally, since my ancestors worked in the wool and textile mills) Yorkshireman through and through.However, when I look at the wider picture and see where my other ancestors came from, then the question becomes rather more flexible. For instance..... 1) My father was born in Bradford and my mother was born in Dublin, so does that make me half-Yorkshire and half-Irish! Absolutely NOT! My mother's birthplace was entirely accidental and she didn't have a drop of Irish blood in her because both her parents were Bradford-born but my grandfather was playing his violin in a theatre orchestra over there at the time. 2) Three of my grandparents were born in Bradford and one (paternal) grandmother was born at Bath, Somerset. So that makes me three-quarters Yorkshire and 25 per cent West Country, right? Well, not necessarily..... 3) Like most Yorkshire folks, the father back I go in generations the proportion of ancestors coming in from other parts of the country is increasing. Of my great-grandparents, six were born in Yorkshire, one in Gloucester and one in Somerset - so I'm still three-quarters Yorkshire. However, only three of my great-grandparents were born in Bradford, one was born at Easingwold, one at Scarborough, one in York, plus the two from the West Country. So now my Bradford ancestry is down to 3/8. Bradford is what I call the "melting pot" of my ancestry since they were coming in to work in the mills from other parts of Yorkshire and outside. 4) Of my 16 great-great-grandparents, these are the figures: 9 born in Yorkshire; 2 in Wiltshire; 1 in Wiltshire; 1 in Somerset; 2 in Northumberland; 1 in Edinburgh. So now my Yorkshire ancestry is down to 9/16 or just over 50 per cent, of which only 2 of my great-great grandparents were born in Bradford. By the time I get to 3x-great grandparents the figures are becoming even more diverse. No doubt others will have similar tales to tell. Personally, as a fairly serious general historian and professional genealogist I find this kind of debate much more interesting than people just asking for census look-ups because it involves not just family history but local and social history and illustrates the interplay of social mobility, migration and the movement and integration of families around the country. It's only when we start getting involved much more in this kind of question that academic historians will begin to take us seriously, which at the moment most don't! -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE