Corsham - Neston - Box - Biddestone

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Jones - Wensley - Atkins - Watts
Please checkout Facebook pages for Neston, Corsham and Box..

MANY OLD PHOTOS COLOURISED - if you want original copies please let me know - Database last updated 16th December 2024 (another 957 map coordinates added)

The data contained in this website is the result of almost 3 decades of research. Originally I started trying to locate Wensley's in Somerset. This was the result of a request of my wife's uncle Neville George Atkins. Neville had somehow become convinced that as his maternal grandmother was somehow linked to Frederick Porter Wensley (1865-1949), Chief Constable, Scotland Yard. (Look him up) This however after many years of searching turned out not to be the case. (Well at least I could never find a connection) Stop press... After more than 2 decades I have found Neville's link to Fred Wensley. VIA his 8 x great grandfather born in 1616! Having immersed myself in the hunt for family tree links I found myself more and more, wondering about my own heritage. I did not even know where my paternal family originated. It took me 10 years to track down my Paternal Grandfathers line. That's what lead me to the Westwells, Neston, Corsham area. Soon I found myself tracking down everyone in the area (Corsham Wiltshire) linked to the family by marriage. Over 56,000 people later I had probably compiled the largest data base of people born in and around Corsham anywhere on the internet. Click on the search button to see if any of your family are in the database.

Wensley Research

Luckily Cherry found her fathers long lost brother Neville George Atkins in 1995. Although he is now 90 years old and he has lived in New York all his adult life, he was still able to provide many links back to start the Wensley research. Many years before he had pencilled what he remembered about his Wensley line on a scruffy piece of paper and gave it to me. A really weird coincidence happed a few years later. Cherry and I were driving through Somerset, by pure fluke we stopped for a ciggarete break. We were parked beside the the church in Exford, never having ever been anywhere near the village. We knew no family connection to Exford. We walked through the church yard and stopped for a sit in the sun. Opposite us was a headstone (pictured below) and I remarked "it's a shame you have no Wensleys in this area so won't be related" In 2015 I was searching for Harriet's death and it hit me, the off chance visit to the Exford church yard. I contacted a local researcher who took the photo for me. Yes it turned out to be Cherry's 2x GG grandparents. Charles Wensley and Harriet Pope!!!!!

About this server

After two years running 24/7/365 I have upgraded the old Pi4 server with a new ultra fast Pi5 unit. The total cost of the unit including enhanced super fast NVMe memory board addon is about £130! (Plus about £40 for software) An added bonus is I do not have to pay hundreds of pounds for web hosting and I am in total control of the security of the site.

Another bonus is that an equivalent Windows PC server would cost about £450 just for the box and would cost about £250 per annum in electricity cost. (The Pi5 cost no more than about £65 to run 24/7/365.

Contact me if you want further information.

The server is fast enough to now produce a list of 135,928 media files in less than 5 seconds!

It runs on a modified version of Linux Debian with Apache2 and many other associated needed software.

The easiest way to find people is to use the search facility at the top of this page.

(click on the "MORE" link here to find really useful reports)

Derbyshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1916

Please try the links below

Database last updated 16th December 2024

New updated (Raspberry Pi 5) server now running

Discover Our Family

Question? Royston Atkins

Photo about mid 1960's - what is on Roy's shoulder???? Click link for larger photo.

Charles Wensley - Harriet Pope

Charles born 6 Nov 1852. (A strange coincidence)

I wonder where my love of motor bikes came from?

Aged about 1 year I was living in New Addington Surrey England. I remember when I was about 5 or 6 my father striping a Silent Ghost (Velocette LE - Noddy bike) in the living room. Click to find my paternal ancestors back to Neston in Wiltshire.

William Atkins

Born 1771 in Minehead. Click to see his ancestors. (Then click on ancestors link)

My story

Firstly my thanks must got to my cousin (Barry Lawson.) Without his help at the start my research would probably have gone nowhere.

I left home at the age of 14 with no photos and not much information as my mother died when I was 14 years old. My father never got on with the Watts side so conversation on the topic had always been taboo.

20+ years ago when home printing of photos was expensive, Barry printed loads of copies of A4 photos and certificates and posted them all to me at his own expense. Barry and Sara had also done a great deal of research much of which I openly admit to have copied.

We were all close to Nan and Popy. They lived in Thornton Heath and all the family visited them on a regular basis. As usual as children non of us ever thought to ask about ancestors. Only recently one of my cousins told me that Pam and Eric were twins. (I had never known or noticed with the birth dates.) My mother (Irene Watts) died when I was 14 years old and soon after I was split up from my sister Wendy, who passed away 10 Feb 2019.

I started my research as previously mentioned in about 1997 looking for the Wensley line but very soon got interested in my own line after receiving the information from Barry. It took me 10 years to find my paternal grandfathers name and details after being sent them anonymously in about 2001.

He had passed away before I was born. I had been researching in the London area. Can you imagine my surprise to find he was born in Neston , Wiltshire!

This photo is of my father Frederick Jones and my mother Irene Watts on their wedding day 30 Sep 1950 in Croydon. To be continued...................

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Database last updated
16th December 2024

I make every effort to document my research. If you have something you would like to add or correct please contact me. Sorry no living persons information given without proof of relationship.

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