"Nelson and Napoleon" by Elsie Jean Craxford

RESHAPING THE MAGAZINE

I have taken the editorial decision to reshape the magazine section of our web site into more easily manageable pieces. With this in mind, I have added this second page which will be mainly research orientated.

As the family tree develops and takes shape I think most people discover that, as now, life in the past was not as simple or straight forward as it at first might have seemed. The various sources of information that we all come to rely on throw up individuals who just will not fit tidily into the slot we have ordained for them in our software packages. Names dart across the landscape of our family meadow, unable to be pegged to a satisfactory beginning or an ultimate end. The articles referenced on this page will feature several such individuals who have spiked the curiosity of one or more of the researchers involved with this site; individuals still sit uncomfortably or incompletely linked to the rest of the tree. I have listed, and where possible cited the source, of the information in our possession. I have also taken the liberty of speculating upon what the missing links may be.

WE ARE HUNTING FOR ...

This section is dedicated to the search for individual people who could occupy a strategic place in the family tree. We have currently exhausted our lines of research and have reached a dead-end. We are asking for help, documentary evidence and photographs with these our ancestors to make the overall picture more complete.

Robert Craxford This is the root ancestor of one of the branches of the Craxford family that lived in London during the ninettenth and early twentieth centuries. His son and grandsons were intimately involved with the Britannia Theatre in London and were known by the surname Lane Crauford even though their documentation remained Craxford throughout. We know that he died in 1854 during an outbreak of cholera. His wife was called Elizabeth and their son William was born in St Pancras in 1829. In his biographical novel "Sam and Sallie" Alfred Lane Craxford recounts that his grandfather, Robert, moved to London from Hereford to become as Government clerk with the Colonial Office. Robert's death ceretificate records his occupation as a messenger. We have been unable to find any reference to Craxfords living in Hereford in the later 1700s.

The stories of this branch of the family have been gathered together in THE PURPLE PAGES

Information please on:
Craxfords living in South Wales especially Monmouth and Pontypool

Newfloridian - Site Administrator
(Alan D. Craxford) October 26th 2007.

I shall endeavour to keep this paragraph up to date on the current direction of our researches (I say "our" as there are many lines of investigation that converge to this point).

We have set ourselves a little task. We would like to illustrate as many of the individual pedigree trees within the site. So far Maureen and I have collected together photographs of our respective parents and grandparents. If you look at either of our pages and click the 'pedigree' link you will see that the tree is illuminated with little thumbprint pictures. If you would like to help with this, please send me an email. I am happy to receive your annotated photographs as jpeg attachments. Otherwise I would be grateful for any contributions posted to me. All originals will be returned.

I shall list other surnames - and indicate websites where appropriate - in this section where we have active and ongoing correspondence. Please feel free to contribute information, items of interest and particularly photographs to this section.

Tansley / Crane: Families intricately interwoven with the Craxfords by marriage and otherwise especially in the Welland valley in Northamptonshire

Burlton: Newfloridian's paternal grandmother's family arising from Hereford
George / Goodall: Families from Leicester and Leicestershire associated with Craxfords by marriage

If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please contact us at AlanCrax@aol.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

-- BACK TO PAGE 1 --