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.

Newfloridian - Site Administrator
(Alan D. Craxford) September 4th 2011.
Last update: October 17th 2019

Developments ...

We have gone a long way to unravelling the genealogy of one of our ancestral villages. Stories of Cottingham and its people appear on pages 3a and 3b of the RED section of the magazine. Stories from just up the road in Gretton now appear on page 3c. This page will also contain those newly completed articles which don't quite fit onto existing pages. Such is the case with the Claypole story at the head of the Feature Articles. In due course a new section will be added to page 3 and this article will then be migrated onwards.

We are hunting for ...

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.

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

Tansley / Tilley: Families intricately interwoven with the Craxfords by marriage and otherwise especially in Cottingham and Middleton in Northamptonshire

Knight / Coles: and other familes centred on Gretton, Northamptonshire

Burlton: Newfloridian's paternal grandmother's family arising from Hereford

We would like to illustrate as many of the articles and individual pedigree trees within the site as possible. If you would like to help with this, please send me an email. I am happy to receive your annotated photographs, documents and certificates as jpeg attachments. Otherwise I would be grateful for any contributions posted to me. All originals will be returned. We are always interested in stories and anecdotes about members of our extended family. We are also pleased to receive comments in our guestbook or submissions about our articles for inclusion in our Letters pages.

Please contact us

If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site in general, or you have further information regarding this article, please Get in touch by leaving a message in our Guestbook. If you don't want the message to be added to the Guestbook, just say that in your text. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Research done

CLAYPOLE - NUTT: A SAGA OF FINEDON
In a quiet corner of a now closed cemetery alongside a busy main road in coastal Essex, there lies a flat marble slab on the side of which is the dedication to a soldier lost at the end of the First World War. This memorial presents a conundrum on two counts.

RESTORATION OF THE NUTT MEMORIAL
After consultation with a local stonemason, he agreed to take on the task. The marble bases were excavated and all the stonework was cleaned. It became apparent that the base of the memorial had subsided into the ground for, when this task was complete, the memorial inscription to Arthur Nutt also became clear.

THE CRAXFORDS OF HUNTINGDON
"Robert Craxford returns thanks to his Friends for favors received and begs leave to inform them that he has resigned the Business to John Hollidge ... "

THE MYSTERY OF FRANCIS COCKERILL CRAXFORD
It is a corroborated fact that Francis Cockerill Craxford was a convict transported to Tasmania in 1835 ...

WHO IS THE CRAXFORD ELDER STATESMAN?
... beinge of perfect mind and memory but weake in body about a weeke next before his death ...

JOHN CRAXFORD, LABOURER OF MIDDLETON
"Nextly I give unto my Daughter Mary Croxford, the Sum of Twenty pounds of good Lawful money to be paid to her when coms to the age of Twenty one years old"

THE WILL OF WILLIAM CRAXFORD (1803)
"My daughter Mary should be permitted to live with my said wife so long as she chooses ..."

MRS EVELYN CRAXFORD
"She was certainly the most outstanding lady bowler at Southgate at that time"


OLIVE'S STORY
"Can we call her Olive?". "Yes", replied Mother,"if you like". So, Olive she became, with Maud attached as that was the name of my lovely teacher."