What a coincidence
Posted: 13 Dec 2012, 19:58
As I have said on one of the forums recently, I have been doing the family tree for one of my friends for Christmas and having it printed by http://www.lulu.com. The book has been printed and is on its way.
Doing a bit of research stimulated me to look at mine again. I don't do much these days as I have most family lines back to the very early 1700s if not earlier. Earlier than that and I am forced into supposition rather than fact.
Anyway I did a search on Ancestry on Martha Edmundson and John Widdup 1785 ( and as all Widdup family researchers will know this is the starting point of most Widdup trees, although I have managed to take the tree much further back) I don' know, if anything, what I expected to find but when researching on Ancestry you can find links to other people researching the same and I always live in hope that some more photos may turn up relating to my direct ancestor John Roberts Widdup and siblings.
Now I am not from Rochdale, none of my family have ever lived here ( since 1786). I was born in Nottingham, spent most of my life in Chester-le-Street and went to University in Salford. On graduating we moved to Rochdale, nice countryside, cheap houseing , low rates! Mean while Mum and Dad and my younger sister had moved back to Burnley where Dad was born (He moved away in 1927)
So back to my research. It was around 2001 that I discovered that John Roberts Widdup was my great grandfather and probably a year latter when I discovered that his gg grandfather was born in Rochdale in 1786, the first born of John and Martha. Now I thought THAT was a coincidence, but what about this one
My friends name is Gaffiney and one of the family trees that I found that connected with Martha and John was a Gaffiney tree. I contacted the person, as I was very curious about this link.
LO AND BEHOLD this Gaffiney tree was the tree of my friends husband ( I didn't do this branch for her as she said her husbands cousin had already done it) In fact it was this very tree that my friend had told me about.
An online converstion took place. I now find that my friends husbands cousin married into the Widdup family to a Jack Wilkinson. The direct line back to Martha and John is to a son Thomas, brother of my 5times great grandfather William (Rochdale 1786). This husband and wife were not from Rochdale either. My friend and I are not related but our families are closely connected. Now that is a coincidence
Doing a bit of research stimulated me to look at mine again. I don't do much these days as I have most family lines back to the very early 1700s if not earlier. Earlier than that and I am forced into supposition rather than fact.
Anyway I did a search on Ancestry on Martha Edmundson and John Widdup 1785 ( and as all Widdup family researchers will know this is the starting point of most Widdup trees, although I have managed to take the tree much further back) I don' know, if anything, what I expected to find but when researching on Ancestry you can find links to other people researching the same and I always live in hope that some more photos may turn up relating to my direct ancestor John Roberts Widdup and siblings.
Now I am not from Rochdale, none of my family have ever lived here ( since 1786). I was born in Nottingham, spent most of my life in Chester-le-Street and went to University in Salford. On graduating we moved to Rochdale, nice countryside, cheap houseing , low rates! Mean while Mum and Dad and my younger sister had moved back to Burnley where Dad was born (He moved away in 1927)
So back to my research. It was around 2001 that I discovered that John Roberts Widdup was my great grandfather and probably a year latter when I discovered that his gg grandfather was born in Rochdale in 1786, the first born of John and Martha. Now I thought THAT was a coincidence, but what about this one
My friends name is Gaffiney and one of the family trees that I found that connected with Martha and John was a Gaffiney tree. I contacted the person, as I was very curious about this link.
LO AND BEHOLD this Gaffiney tree was the tree of my friends husband ( I didn't do this branch for her as she said her husbands cousin had already done it) In fact it was this very tree that my friend had told me about.
An online converstion took place. I now find that my friends husbands cousin married into the Widdup family to a Jack Wilkinson. The direct line back to Martha and John is to a son Thomas, brother of my 5times great grandfather William (Rochdale 1786). This husband and wife were not from Rochdale either. My friend and I are not related but our families are closely connected. Now that is a coincidence