DEVON-L Archives

From: "Ed and Dorothy Bale" <>
Subject: Couldn't do it without you
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 12:28:54 -0400

I would like to thank the many list members that have come to my assistance
over the past year.

I started my search for my family in England in May 2001. When I first
began, I had no information on my English family except that my grandfather
was born in Oldham. I contacted a Canadian relative and she was able to
provide me with a copy of her grandfather's birth certificate. With this
information, I requested family information on the message boards and
subscribed to the Lancashire subscribers list. I then requested a search of
the 1881 census but no one was able to find my family.

When I was about to give up, I received an email that the Bale family that I
was searching for were in Oldham in 1881 but under the name BEALE. My
informant explained that he had tried searching under various forms of the
name and then under the christen name with the two birth dates that I had
supplied. From this information, I was able to request some specific
information and again, listers came to my assistance. One gentleman in
particular has stayed with me for the year and has supplied me with parish
records, info. from Electoral Rolls, Census information - including the
1901 - and Trade Directories.

I now knew that my GGrandfather was born in Atherington, Devon. I lucked out
and subscribed to the Devon list. Again, I was met with individuals that
proved to be extremely helpful. My GGrandfather was found on the 1851 census
along with siblings and his father. However, they were all living apart and
the only connection to them was that they were born in Atherington. The door
appeared to be closed at this point until a lady from Wales offered to get
the film for the 1841 census and search for the family. Her search was
successful and I knew that I had the correct family members. The mother of
1841 had died before 1851 so I engaged a contact to try to get her death
certificate. This he was able to get but unfortunately, I had no maiden
name.

Again, another lady said she would search the parish records for this
family. This she has done. She has provided me with marriage, baptism, and
death dates. Now my family has been traced back to 1766 to my GGGrandfather
and I have a good lead on his father and mother.

I live in an area that does not have a FHLC so I have not had access to any
film from England. As a result, I have been very dependent on the message
boards and subscribers list. I wasn't disappointed. Many thanks to the
individuals from the U.K., Australia, United States, and Canada that had
assisted.

Ed

Edward and Dorothy Bale

Connaught, Ontario, Canada

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