BJNL's GENEALOGY

One of the exciting things about travelling is that it presents an opportunity to visit  ancestral places and walk where your ancestors once walked. Sometimes, it also provides an opportunity to learn a little about the history of an area. When my husband and I visited England in November/December 2019, we took the opportunity to visit Tamworth, a market town in Staffordshire.  Our time in Tamworth was short – about the equivalent of one day (an afternoon and a morning).  However, in the short time we were there, it became very apparent that the townspeople strongly value Tamworth’s long rich history; a history that goes back a long way before my husband's Coop ancestors were ever there. We were staying on the opposite side of the River Tame to the centre of Tamworth but it was just a short walk away, across a bridge over the River Tame, past Tamworth Castle and on to the central area of Tamworth. Tamworth Castle – built 1080AD  - photo taken by Author Tamworth’s long history was

What led Elizabeth and Thomas to Marylebone, or how they came to meet, is uncertain. However, on 12 November 1837, when Elizabeth was about 24 years old and Thomas, about 21, they married each other at the St Marylebone Parish Church in Middlesex[1]: London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 via Ancestry.com Thomas was born and raised in Tamworth, Staffordshire while Elizabeth was from Kent. Thomas was baptised on 14 April 1816 at St Editha’s Church in Tamworth; the son of Thomas and Anne [Hall] Coop[2][3]. You can read a little more about Thomas’ background in my post Tamworth and Three Generations of Coops. Elizabeth was baptised on 22 June 1813 in West Peckham, Kent; the daughter of Stephen and Susannah [Jackson] Large[4]. Her baptism record shows that, at the time of her baptism, the family was living at Hurst in Kent and her father, Stephen, was working as a labourer. Elizabeth’s forebears had been in Kent for at least seven generations, probably longer[5

Some thoughts on my approach to tree building, deciding what to work on next, making a plan of action, keeping track of my investigations, and 'seeing the wood for the branches' ... Tree Building I generally work on the principle that the wider and deeper I can make my family tree then the better equipped I will be to build my tree back in time. This is because a broad base to a tree provides a better foundation for building back with confidence. For this reason, I spend more time building across and forwards in time than I spend in building backwards. DNA-related information used in conjunction with oral histories and traditional sources of documentary evidence is really important to this. Connecting DNA matches to my tree supports the development of the collateral lines in my tree, thereby strengthening the base. Drawing on oral family histories and traditional sources of documentary evidence helps to build out people’s lives and life stories in the context of their