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Welcome! This website was created on 14 Jan 2006 and last updated on 29 Nov 2022.

There are 9277 names in this family tree.The webmaster of this site is Christine Ansell. Please click here if you have any comments or feedback.

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About ANSELL & ARMSTRONG FAMILY TREE
Latest news - January 2020
With the help of DNA I have identified our Irish great, great, great grandparents.  John O'Brien born about 1810 (don't know where) and Bridget Reilley born around the same time. She died at 2 Lad Lane, Dublin in 1881.  

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Early entries are a possibility, not a certainty and dates can only be approximate.  I cannot verify any of these early people - this is other people's research so treat with ultimate  caution.  The early info is almost certainly full of mistakes!  It is probably very wrong! But I include it because it just 'might be' correct!

ANSELL FAMILY SURNAMES include:

Ansell, Boleyn, Byron, Carew, Carey, Cloke, Cowley, Fitzwilliam, Langridge,   Gates, Godley, Hoo, Marden, Richardson, Sackville, Shelley, Snelling, Wilkins and  Wodehouse.

Through the Cloke line, The Ansell family link to author Vita Sackville West (19th cousin, once  removed); to Henry VIII (7th cousin 13 x removed); to Anne Boleyn (7th cousin 13 x removed), and  to the Queen mother (20th cousin). 
Lord Byron, the poet, is 12th cousin, five times removed.  The  poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, is 17th cousin 3 x removed. (Byron and Shelley were distant cousins.)    

Jane Fitzwilliam (9th cousin 8x removed) married Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul's  Cathedral. 

The actor Benedict Cumberbatch is a distant relative by marriage.  

The author P.G.  Wodehouse is also 17th cousin 3 x removed.  

Lancelot Vandepeer (great grandfather x 11) born  Belgium/Holland around 1527 came to England and worked on Canterbury Cathedral as a carpenter.  His  will in old English is in the picture gallery section of this site.   We share a great grandmother  x 23 (Maud de Glanville) with the current occupants of Oxburgh Hall, the Bedingfield/Bedingfeld  family.  Charlemagne (Charles the Great, Holy Roman Emperor) is great grandfather x 34, through our  link with Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Sir George Carew, 9th cousin 9 x removed born about 1504 was Captain of the Mary Rose and died when the ship sank in 1545.

Also through the Cloke line, research shows that King Alfred the Great born in 849 was probably  great grandfather x 32; William the Conqueror was great grandfather x 25; Eleanor of Aquitaine born  1123 was great grandmother x 22 and the Plantagenet King Edward III born 1312 was great grandfather  x 18. I say probably because it can be problematical researching this far back, and there was, of  course, the possibility of infidelity then with no DNA tests available.

Challoner family surnames are Challoner, Martindale, Barry, Dermer, Dalton, Joyce, Booth, Booth- Cole and Lugar. In 1790 the Challoners are in Holborn in the City of London.    
 The Martindales come from Wigton, Cumbria, and the Lugars were from Ardleigh in Essex. The Joyce  family come from Berkshire.

ARMSTRONG FAMILY SURNAMES include:
Armstrong (from Dublin), Liston (from Limerick), Brien (from  Dublin) and Boylan from Ireland.  On the maternal side, surnames are Bacon (from Somerset), Baker  (from Sussex), Thompsett and Cossam (both from Sussex) and Wakelin from Westminster, St Pancras  and Uttoxeter.

Surnames on the Elliott (Armstrong)side are Cushion, Doy, Ellett, Griggs, Howitt and Tipple from  Norfolk.  On the maternal side the surnames are Furne/Fearn/Fern from Northamptonshire and  Warwickshire, Capell, Denny and Kynninge/Kenning/Kinning/Kynge from Northamptonshire, and Wotley  from Somerset.

ANSELL (Paul's father's family)

Our Ansells were millers, working and owning mills in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.  With the help of  others, I've traced the family back to John Ansell (great grandfather x 9), born about 1585 in  Horsham, Sussex, and his wife Elenor.   Elizabeth 1 was Queen of England, and this was the decade  of the Spanish Armada (1588). John Ansell's grandson, William, was born about 1645 and in 1700 he  was the mortgagee of Warnham mill. Another grandson, Thomas, was born in 1655 in Horsham and in  his will of 1737 he left:

"messuages, tenements gardens backsides and premises with the appurtenances in East Street of the  Burrough of Horsham; messuages or tenement or premises with the appurtenances situate and being in  Warneham aforesaid commonly called by the name of Little Thatchers..."  Thomas was not living in  these premises and leaves the rent to his heirs.  He was living in "my messuage or tenement and  premises with appurtenances wherein I and one William Boses now dwell situate and being in Warneham  ... and commonly called by the name of Squigstowe..."

John Ansell born in 1728 in Warnham was a miller and farmer.  He ran a stage coach with six horses  from Horsham to London.

John Ansell, born 1823, was the miller at Lowfield Heath from 1848 to 1880 and there's a photo of  his mill in the gallery above.  The mill is no longer in its original location - it was moved to  allow for the expansion of Gatwick Airport.
  
 Harry Ansell, (brother of great grandfather) born abt 1875 in Dorking, departed from the milling  business and became an antique dealer.  He lived with his wife Annie at Ivy Cottage in Coldharbour.   There's a painting of the cottage in the Tate Gallery, London called "Sun and Snow" by Lucien  Pissarro painted 1916.  It can be found on the Internet at www.tate.org.uk.  Lucien Pissarro rented  a room in Harry and Annie's cottage and produced a series of paintings which he entitled "CARE OF  MRS ANSELL".  There is a copy of the painting in the photo section of this website.

Walk around Horsham, and you are likely to be related to anyone called Ansell living there today,  or in the past.

ARMSTRONG (my father's family)

The Armstrongs' relationship with Scottish kings was turbulent to say the least.  The 16th century  was a time of bad weather and poor harvests, combined with increased populations in Liddesdale.   And, as in most famines, unrest and turmoil were rife, with men desperate to feed their families.  And so they began to ride and raid. English fighting Scot, Scot fighting English. The riders were  known as Reivers, going out by day and night to steal and pillage. Such was the system of  lawlessness that built up along the border.

The Armstong Clan's authority resided intact at Mangerton in Liddesdale, a succession of Armstrongs  retaining the title of the 'Laird of Mangerton', until 1610 when Johnny Armstrong was 'put to the  horn' (denounced as a rebel) and hanged as a rebel.  Following the death of the last chief of Clan  Armstrong, members of the family dispersed to Ireland, England and later to the USA, fleeing for  their lives.   To this day, the Armstrongs have no acknowledged clan chief.    They do, however,  have a tartan - see picture gallery.

My branch of the Armstrongs is an Irish Catholic family from Dublin in Ireland. A number of them  later left Ireland and emigrated to the USA as well as to England. They're related to Lord  Armstrong of Cragside, but very distantly and I can't detail this due to the lack of records.

Gilnockie Tower (Dumfries and Galloway) is the home of the Clan Armstrong line and the museum  houses information related to the Clan.

BACON and BAKER (Armstong line: my father's family)

I've traced the Bacon family back to 1755 in Wincanton, Somerset.  George Bacon, born 1799 in  Wells, Somerset, was my great, great grandfather. He was a woolcomber and under bailiff of the  County Court.  His son, William Ball Bacon, born in 1845 in Wells, was the schoolmaster of  Godney-in-Meare school, Somerset.  His daughter, Harriet (my great grandmother), born in 1833  in Wells, moved to London and married Joseph Baker in 1866. Sadly, their son, Joseph was born  after Joseph senior had died - from a burst appendix.  The Baker family originate from  Robertsbridge, Salehurst and Hailsham in Sussex.

CAPELL (Armstrong line: my mother's family)

I've traced the Capell family back to Richard Capell (great grandfather x 16) who was born about  1380 in Great Brington, Northamptonshire.  Henry V1 was on the throne and this was the decade that  saw the start of the Wars of the Roses (1455) and the siege and fall of Constantinople (1453). The  Capell family subsequently lived in Nobottle, Great Brington, Little Brington, Stowe Nine Churches,  Weedon Bec and Flore in Northamptonshire.

The surname ‘Capell’ has its origins in a place name. It was brought to England at the time of the  Norman Conquest and refers to the family’s former residence in La Chappelle in Normandy.

The Robert Capell who was baptised at Stowe Nine Churches in 1704 was my six times great  grandfather.  In addition to the Stowe Nine Churches parish registers of births, marriages and  deaths there is much detailed information in the contemporary records on Robert's activities as  a land-owning yeoman, grazier and parish officer in Stowe Nine Churches and the neighbouring  villages. There are also several documents relating to the early Capells, including Robert's  land holdings, these documents being held in the London Metropolitan Archives.

Richard Capell (born 1762), his grandson (Richard's father was my great grandmother x 5's brother)  established an endowed school in Flore, Northamptonshire in 1833. He gave £1,485 for the education  of 20 poor children.  He died in 1835.  The school moved to new premises and the old school is now  the site of the scout hut.

There are Capell gravestones in the churchyards at Flore (by the door as you enter the church)  and at Great Brington (immediately behind the church).

William Capell, born 1782, was my great grandmother x 4's brother.  He, and his son John, born  1814, were Inn Keepers of the Kings Head in Spratton.

Benjamin Capell born in 1788 in Brington is an interesting character.  He was the son of our great  grandfather x 5 (we are descended from his brother). In 1851 he was living in Sheep St, Northampton  with wife Sarah and children Frances and Harriett.  He was an auctioneer and upholsterer.  By 1861  he was a widower and was living at 6 Royal Terrace, Northampton.  His occupation was again,  auctioneer.  In 1848 Benjamin attended a sale at the stately home at Stowe where over a period of  about 5 weeks the goods and chattels of the Duke of Buckingham went under the hammer to pay off the  Duke's debts.  The name of Benjamin Capell appears in the list of principal purchasers in the  company of (amongst several other gentry and nobility) Queen Victoria, Earl Spencer, the othschilds  and a Mr J Capell of Watford! Benjamin became the proud owner of "A pair of high-back fauteuils,  carved and gilt, the seats and backs covered with rich needlework of flowers in silk." He paid  eight guineas.  Benjamin must have become a well known figure in and around Northampton as he  regularly advertised his auctions in the Northampton Mercury.  Benjamin's son-in-law, Henry  Lancaster, and former son-in-law, William John Peirce, both continued as auctioneers and  upholsterers with what would appear to be good livings.   On October 2nd 1858 Benjamin purchased,  at auction, a terraced house in the suburbs for £520. It was built in about 1827 and was situated  on the turnpike road leading from Northampton to Market Harborough  – 6 Royal Terrace.  It's now a  hotel.

Richard Capell OBE (b 1885 and a distant relative, being the great grandson x 5 of great  grandfather x 10) was awarded a Military Medal & studied Cello in London & Lille.  From 1928 to  1933 he worked on the Monthly Musical Record.  In 1937 he took on the proprietorship of the  journal Music and Letters.  He was editor from 1950 until his death. He was also, for a time,  the music critic of the Daily Telegraph.

Gravestones of Richard Capell (1710-1783) and  his wife, Elizabeth (nee Wright) stand beside  the path in the churchyard at Stowe Nine Churches. Richard was wealthy and left his daughters,  Elizabeth and Mary £900 each.

I have found a link by marriage for the Capell family with a family called Shakespeare from  Warwickshire.  I cannot identify if there is a link with THE William Shakespeare.  (Elizabeth  Allen, daughter of James Allen and Ann Shakespeare, married John Capell in 1838.  John was the  grandson of the brother of our great grandfather x 5, so a very distant link.)

CHALLONER and LUGAR  (Ansell line: Paul's mother's family)

I've traced the Challoner family back to Richard Challoner born about 1730 (great grandfather x  4).  According to the baptism record for his son, he was a mariner. I don’t know where he was born,  but his son Richard was born in Holborn in 1790. His son was also called Richard and he seems to  have had two occupations:  a fishmonger, and later a housekeeper.  William Challoner, (great  grandfather ) born 1855 in Rotherhithe, married Sarah Ann Joyce.  She was the daughter of Henry  Joyce and Sophia Booth.  Sophia Booth's grandparents were Robert Booth Cole (known as Robert Booth)  and Sophia Lugar.  Sophia was born in 1783 in Ardleigh and descended from the Lugar family of  Ardleigh in Essex.  There are Lugar memorials on the wall of Ardleigh church.

MARTINDALE and DALTON  (Ansell line: Paul's mother's family)

Albert Victor Challoner (b 1890) married Rosina Martindale in Camberwell in 1915.   Rosina's  grandmother was Elizabeth Dermer. Rosina's great grandmother was Elizabeth Dalton.  This side  of the family has been hard to research and I have tried to discover their background for some  time. what kind of life did they lead? Where did they come from?  It's taken me some years to  find out.

I've recently discovered that the Martindale and Dalton families came from Wigton in Cumberland,  about 15 miles north of Cockermouth.  I have traced back to Joseph Martindale born about 1720  (great grandfather x 4).  His son, Joseph, born in 1753 in Wigton, was an attorney at law.  This  occupation was a clue as to the family background and I started doing more research.  I think the  Daltons were originally yeoman farmers but am not sure.

Dalton Martindale (Rosina's great grandfather and our great grandfather x 2) was born in 1793 in  Wigton and moved to what is now south London, (Walworth/Brixton areas) and one wonders why he did  so.  If he wanted to move to a large conurbation for work, why not go to Liverpool, Leeds or  Manchester?  Curious.  He married Elizabeth Dermer (great grandmother x 2) in Brixton in 1828.  Perhaps she was the reason for his move south.  (He did not follow the family tradition of being an  attorney and in 1851 was an ale and beer merchant at 90 Beresford St, Walworth.) His wife,  Elizabeth Dermer, was the sister of William Pinder Dermer (b 1803 in London) who married  Catherine Mary Walter in 1824.  Catherine was the granddaughter of Alleyne Walter (b 1724).   Alleyne's brother, John Abel Walter (b 1701 in Barbados) had married the Honourable Jane Neville,  daughter of the 11th Lord of Abergavenny, George Neville. I think the Barbados link is a link to  the slave trade in Barbados and a number of the Walter children were born there, settling in South  Carolina.

CLOKE (Ansell line: Paul's father's family)

I've traced the CLOKE family back to Henry Cloke (13th great grandfather) who was born abt 1420  in Kingsnorth, Kent.  Henry V was on the throne and this was the decade that saw the death of  Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.

The Cloke family were yeoman farmers who lived in Warnham, Horsham, Elmsted and the surrounding  area of Kent. Some of their half-timbered farmhouses are still standing today.  A yeoman farmer is  one who owns his land - a free man rather than a serf.  It has its ancient roots in the early  Anglo-Saxon rule of England or earlier. In ancient times the land was a strong indicator of social  status and wealth.  In the 16th century, terms like 'yeoman farmer' were used to denote prosperous,  small farmers who owned the land they farmed.

In Elmsted Parish church there's a memorial plaque in the floor near the organ (usually covered  by a carpet) dedicated to John Cloke (1560-1617 and brother of great grandfather x 9.) 'gentelman  of Northlye'. Northlye/Northleigh is probably what is now called Old Leigh Place in the Northleigh  area of Elmsted. This property can't easily be found because it lies at the end of a no through  road. It's a spectacular example of buildings of that era.

In his will in 1596, Thomas Cloke (great grandfather x 9) left to his wife, Joan:  "All lands,  houses, orchards, farmland, tenements, rents and debts owing to me in the parishes of Elmsted  and Waltham for the rest of her natural life unless she remarries." (She did)

In his will in 1633, Daniel Cloke (another brother of great grandfather x 9) left his wife  (Elizabeth)  three kyne (cattle), one horse, twenty ewes, all his swine, all his poultry and all  her household stuff; the residue to his nephew Richard Woollett after funeral expenses have been  paid; all lands and tenements in Elmsted were left to Elizabeth for her natural life; after her  death the land called the Great Ridgeway of 7 acres and one half of Holts Down would go to Samuel  Cloke one of the sons of his brother Edmund, deceased during his natural life, and after his death  to Samuel's son Edmund; the other half of Holts Down, land called Little Ridgeway, land called  Highfield of 5 acres and land called Neate Towne Soale of one acre, would go to Edward Cloke, one  of the sons of his brother Thomas deceased during his natural life and after his death to Edward's  son John; he left the property he then lived in [presumably in Elham] to his wife Elizabeth,  including land called Pigeon House Close of two acres, land called Three Acres, land called The  Butts of twelve acres and Fishers Close of three acres, and after her death  this went to his  nephew Richard Woollett.

If you visit the Timberbats pub in Bodsham, near Wye in Kent, as you leave the pub, look over the  neighbouring countryside.  The fields as far as you can see were once owned by the Cloke family.

The Cloke family share common descendants with Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth  II (through the Queen mother).  This is through Elizabeth Page who married Daniel Cloke in 1688 in  Elmsted.

Kent was particularly affected by the Black Death plague with undiminished vigour in the 16th and  17th centuries.  Areas including Ashford, only a few miles from the Cloke strongholds of Elmsted,  Lyminge and Waltham were particulalry badly affected, as were the areas of Maidstone, Deal and  Chatham.  Plague had left the area by the end of the 17th century but smallpox had taken hold.  We  don't know how many Clokes were affected but this tree has a number of them dying in the same year.

DERMER (Ansell line: Paul's mother's family)
 A wealthy Hertfordshire farming family

I've traced the Dermer family back to Sleep Dermer (b about 1677 and great grandfather x 6) in  Offley, Hertfordshire - near Baldock.  I found an old copy of the Evangelical Magazine which  stated: "Mr Sleep Dermer died December 14th 1740 aged 63, and was buried in the ground belonging  to the Independent Meeting (in Hitchin).  He was grandfather to John Dermer late of Hitchin and  Thomas Dermer late of Tottenham. ,... The family were Dissenters.  The graveyard has since been   cleared to make way for housing and the report of the excavations is on the internet, with copies   of Sleep's grave.  I have not been able to get back any further and I am wondering if Sleep was   his real name.  I can't find a birth for anyone called Sleep anywhere.  However, not all  records  from that period have survived.  I think Sleep/Sleap is a surname on his mother's side of the  family.

I've found that a Thomas Dermer was a pilgrim explorer who visited America shortly before the Mayflower sailed.  All the current reports have him being born in Plymouth in 1590 but I suspect  that was simply where he sailed from, rather than being born there.  I can't link him to our  Dermers, but it is still interesting to read about him.  Both were staunch protestants.

The Dermers left a number of wills, which I have yet to fully decipher.  They were connected by  marriage to 11th Lord of Abergavenny, George Neville.

KYNNINGE/KENNING/KINNING/KYNGE (Armstrong line: my mother's family)

Henry Kynninge who died in Little Brington, Northamptonshire, in 1557 was my great grandfather  x 13.  He was probably born about 1490.  In his will he left money and gifts to Lord Spencer's  family of Althorp, to Lord Spencer's yeomen (soldiers - not farmers) and to his own wife, Margery  and his children John, Richard, William, Audria and Agnes.  His naming them in his will has been a  great help to the research.  He appointed Lord Spencer as the overseer of his will stating: "I   make and ordain Sir John Spencer Knight my very good master supervisor and overseer of this my   last will and testament to see all things fully and lawfully distributed and discharged. I bequeath  and give him for his labour and pains an Angel (a coin) of gold.  Henry Kynninge had a farmhouse, a  close, 24 acres of arable land and money which he left to his children.  It is not possible at this  stage to identify where the Kynninge wealth came from but it is clear that they were a significant  family in the area.  Most of the land in the area was owned by the Spencers, but the Kynninge  family were one of the few to own their land outright.

LANGRIDGE (Ansell line: Paul's father's family)

The name is derived from the extinct Manor of Dalyngruge on confines of the parishes of East  Grinstead and West Hoathley, Sussex.  We see it spelt de LANGERYGGE, LANGEREGG, LANGEREGGE,  LANGERICHE, LANGERISCHE, LANGERYGGE, LANGREDG, LANGREGE, LANGREGGE, and others.                                                               There are several historical references to the family at Dallington although from one reference  it appears the Manor itself disappeared or was sacked sometime in the 1100s.  The Da Lyngrigge  family, in its various spellings,  can be traced back to the 1200s together with extensive  detail on land holdings.

I've traced the Langridge family back to Robertus Longare born about 1200 in Sussex (21st Great  Grandfather), although I am sure I have made mistakes.   King  John was on the throne.  Notable  events of this period were the harsh winter of 1205 when the Thames froze over and there was  widespread famine, and the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215.  The Langridge family were  of Norman origin.  There's a story in the Langridge family that Lutener Langridge and his brother,  Nimrod, came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and fought in the Battle of Hastings.   Nimrod is said to have been killed in the battle.  Lutener was later granted land and was the  progenitor of the Langridge family line in England.  Rudyard Kipling wrote about Sir Richard  Dalnygridge who came over with William the Conquerer in 'Puck of Pooks Hill'  (spellings of the  surname vary).
  
 Langridges made fortuitous marriages into the families of the rich and famous and inherited huge  property assets, moving in the course of less than 100 years from their yeomanry origins to be  counted amongst the great landowners and nobility in Sussex.  In those days married women could not  own property.  Upon marriage, the husband and wife became one person under law, the property of the  wife was surrendered to her husband and she ceased to exist as a legal entity.  This carried on  until the Married Women's Property Act of 1882 gave married women the legal right to own and  control their own property.  In some cases, the law could restrict what women could inherit to  mainly personal possessions, but not land.   But - let's assume the astute Langridges married for  love.

Petrus (or Petri) De Longaregge (20th great grandfather) was born about 1235 in West Hoathly.  His birth date is estimated and he could have been alive in 1215 when Magna Carta was signed.  Ralph de Longaregge (great grandfather x 16) was born about 1365 in West Hoathly. I think that  the Sir Edward Dalnygrigge who built Bodiam Castle in 1385 to 1388 could have been his cousin.   He had acquired the manor through his marriage to Elizabeth Wardeux, whose family had in turn  acquired the manor through marriage to the Bodeham family.  The Bodeham family had held the  manor since the conquest. Sir Edward Dalyngrigge was a Knight for the Shire of Sussex for 10  Parliaments between 1379 and 1388 and was without doubt one of the most powerful men in Sussex  at this time, along with his Patron the Earl of Arundel.

In more recent times, James Langridge (b 1906 in Chailey) played cricket for Sussex and England.   In 1950 he became captain of Sussex.  His brother, John George Langridge (b 1910 in Chailey) also  played cricket for Sussex and umpired for England. In 1950 John George was voted Wisden cricketer  of the year and was later awarded an MBE.  These are distant relationships)

TIPPLE (Armstrong line: my mother's family)

I've traced the TIPPLE family back to Jonathan who died in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk in 1812  and also to William Tipple (great grandfather x 4), his brother, who was living in East Rudham  in Norfolk in the mid 1700s.  Jonathan owned a number of properties in the centre of Bury St  Edmunds which he left to his brother, William, when he died.  The Tipple family beyond 1727 are  a mystery -I think they may have been Quakers around Wells next the Sea, but records are scarce.  I  am trying to work out where this property came from, and am trying to find and decipher old wills.   Using the internet is difficult -if you google Tipple you tend to get lots on information on  alcoholic drinks!

WAKELIN (Armstrong line: my father's family)

Using records from the Goldsmiths company in London, I found Edward (possibly great grandfather x  7), born about 1680 in Uttoxeter.  He was a baker.  He apprenticed his son, Edward born about 1715  to a John Levage, silversmith and goldsmith in London.  By 1747, Edward had formed a company with  George Wickes in Panton St, and later formed a company with John Parker. They became Parker and  Wakelin and were crown jewellers and silversmiths to the royal family and many of the aristocracy.   Their silver is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum,  Cambridge, in some National Trust houses around the country and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art  in New York.  Many pieces are still in private ownership.  Edward's son, John, took over the  company and in 1792 Robert Garrard became a partner.  After the retirement of John Wakelin the  company  became known as Garrards, and later merged with Aspreys.

There are photos of Parker and Wakelin silver in the photos section of this website.  But is this  our Wakelin family?  I cannot be absolutely sure.  I need to be sure that I have the correct  parents for Charles b abt 1797.  I think I have and keep double checking and coming to the same  conculsion.  However, I think it odd that there were no family stories about this link.

WOTLEY  (Armstrong line: my mother's family)

The Wotley family were stonemasons from Bristol and Somerset. I've traced them back to William  Wotley (great grandfather x 5) who was born in 1737 in Bristol, and his brother, Hugh, born in  1735, also in Bristol.    Hugh Cross Wotley (great grandfather x 3) was born in 1795 in Wells,  Somerset and he too was a stonemason. He was also a court bailiff in Wells.  It was his son  (also called Hugh Cross Wotley) who moved the family to London, to Kensington probably in the  1850's.

LEAVING ENGLAND

James Cloke (b1823 in Canterbury and brother of great grandfather x 2) left England in 1846 on  the "New London" bound for New York.  Shortly after arrival, he started in the bakery and  confectionery business in New York City where he lived for three years.  He then moved on, first to  Monmouth County New Jersey, and then to Iroquois County, Illinois where he was one of the first  settlers.

Henry Ansell (b1832, Horsham and son of brother of great grandfather x 3) moved to Brisbane,  Queensland, Australia where he married and brought up a family.  Alfred ANSELL (b1861 in Dorking  and brother of great grandfather) left for New York in 1910 aboard the "SS St Louis", destination  Imperial Valley,California.

Joseph Patrick Armstrong (b1889 - grandfather) left papers stating that his siblings, "Kitty and  Biddy" left England for Boston in about 1870 to "be with the aunts".

Henry Frederick Wotley (b1829 in Bristol) emigrated to Canada.  Frederick John Wotley (b1853 in  Bristol) also emigrated to Ottawa in Canada.

A number of my grandmother's family  (Alice Louisa Baker) moved to Australia.

MOVING TO ENGLAND

The Armstrong family moved to London in the mid 1880s from Dublin. Andrew Armstrong (great  grandfather) had been a tailor and had lived at 10 Golden Lane, Dublin. I have visited Golden  Lane - it is now a car park.  Andrew's son, Joseph Patrick ARMSTRONG followed in his footsteps  and had his own company in London, J. P Armstrong & Co, based at 324 Kingsland Road, E8, telephone  Clissold 1980. He manufactured "mantles and costumes, and girls' coats and dresses."  In Ireland,  the family married into the Liston family which originates from Limerick  (originally from Normandy in the 11th century).

HUGUENOT REFUGEES FROM LILLE IN BELGIUM

Family legend states that the FURNE family were Huguenots from Veurne and Lille in Belgium where  they worked as lace makers.  It is said they fled from persecution.   I have traced them back to  Lapworth in Warwickshire. I cannot find any connection to Belgium and the DNA test did not indicate  any such link so this remains a mystery. Huguenot refugees first left France in 1535 and in 1567-68  we see the first Huguenot refugees settling in Northamptonshire/Warwickshire as well as other parts  of the country.  Serious persecution of Huguenots started from 1661 and escaping refugees were  welcomed in many countries, including England.

 This isn't all my own work.  I'm grateful to those who have shared information.  A lot of my  information has been transcribed from original sources, some of it difficult to read. I am sure  that I have made mistakes.   Please let me know if you spot any.
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There are several ways to browse the family tree. The Tree View graphically shows the relationship of selected person to their kin. The Family View shows the person you have selected in the center, with his/her photo on the left and notes on the right. Above are the father and mother and below are the children. The Ancestor Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph above and children below. On the right are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The Descendant Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph and parents below. On the right are the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Do you know who your second cousins are? Try the Kinship Relationships Tool. Your site can generate various Reports for each name in your family tree. You can select a name from the list on the top-right menu bar.

In addition to the charts and reports you have Photo Albums, the Events list and the Relationships tool. Family photographs are organized in the Photo Index. Each Album's photographs are accompanied by a caption. To enlarge a photograph just click on it. Keep up with the family birthdays and anniversaries in the Events list. Birthdays and Anniversaries of living persons are listed by month. Want to know how you are related to anybody ? Check out the Relationships tool.

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