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Welcome! This website was created on 10 Oct 2005 and last updated on 27 Mar 2024. The family trees on this site contain 34398 relatives and 771 photos. If you have any questions or comments you may send a message to the Administrator of this site.
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About Staffordshire Moorlands - Roots & branches
All tribes have many beginnings, ours is no exception
My own ancestors originate almost exclusively from villages in the Staffordshire Moorlands. There are stone masons, farmers and labourers, dressmakers and blacksmiths, iron miners and inn keepers, coachmen, carriers, carters and the odd mole-catcher.
The roots of the RATCLIFFE family begin with William & Ann, in Cauldon from 1640. From the same village - the names DAKIN, WOOLLISCROFT, BYOT & KENT. The WARRINGTON line starts with Hugh & Dorothy in Fenny Bentley in 1670 (possibly over the border in Hognaston Derbyshire before that) and farms its way through Ellastone to Ramsor and beyond. The ORPE family, also in Ellastone from 1490. The village of Ellastone itself dates back to Anglo-Saxon times & is listed in the Domesday book as Edelachestone.Elachestone and Princestone (after the great Prince James who fought in the battle of Ashbourne (1066) against the marauding Bainbridge hordes of the Northern territories). Ellastone (and the earlier versions of the name) is thought to be named after an Anglo-Saxon named Aethelac or Ethelac. Fenny Bentley was named as ‘Benedlege’ in the Domesday Book meaning Kings Land and ‘Fennibenetlegh’ in 1271 the name derives from the Old English ‘beonet-leah’. ‘Beonet’ meaning bent grass and ‘leah’ a clearing thus ‘the clearing overgrown with bent grass’. The prefix ‘Fenny’ is used to distinguish Fenny Bentley from other Bentleys as this is a name found throughout much of England with Hungry Bentley a long lost villages being not so far away just south of Ashbourne.

The MORTONs have beginnings in Colwich in the early 1700's before moving on to Cheddleton & Cheadle. The names WETTON and BLOOR from further south in Stone - one branch of the Bloors stretching across the Atlantic to California and a Wetton family who settled in Pennsylvania. The WATTS family were in Biddulph and before that have their roots in Cheshire.

What began as a 'family' tree, has spread its branches in all directions in an attempt to include connected families, primarily those who have lived at some time in my home village of Alton, but the tree now also includes family lines from a broad swathe of the Staffordshire Moorlands. In addition, included here are short biographical histories of those Alton villagers whose graves are still standing in the three cemeteries in the village
I am indebted to genealogists and family members too numerous to mention, who have contributed to this family tree.

If as a Guest you decide to copy any research from this Private tree, please note that, in line with the Data Protection Act, you MUST NOT take details of any Living persons to publish elsewhere

STORY TELLERS
My feelings are that in each family there is someone who is called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story. To me, genealogy is not just a cold gathering of facts but instead, breathing life into all who have gone before.
We are the storytellers of our tribe.
All tribes have one.
It goes beyond just documenting facts. It's about taking pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish - respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their families.
So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers.
That is why I do my genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones.
Hazel
October 2005

Please sign my guest book if you've passed by this way, and if you have any photographs to share or stories to tell, please let me know...

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Do you have any old family photos to add to the collection on this site? I`d love to hear from you if you have any you`d like to share... please contact me - hazelmills@ntlworld.com

Getting Around
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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