Genealogy
The links on this page take you to sections relating to the Wallwork, Sales, Lindsey
and Coppock surnames. The Wallwork section also includes some information on the Bennison, Ormondroyd and Miller surnames.
Each section includes links to other relevant sites as well
as genealogical information, photographs etc. We have intentionally omitted any
references to people still living - but if you think you may be a long-lost relative,
please contact us for more details.
You may be interested to look at our genealogical informaton alongside This timeline which includes a range of historical events which occurred over the period covered by our files. If you wish to view it alongside our files, right-click on the link and select "Open Link in New Window". In particular, it is worth noting that the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar which took place in Britain in 1752 resulted in both the loss of 11 days (3-13 September inclusive) from the calendar and the change from 25th March to 1st January as the start of the year. This is why dates between 1 Jan and 24 March prior to 1752 are often shown as (e.g.) 20 Feb 1730/31. This date means 20 Feb near the end of church calendar year 1730, early in the civil calendar year 1731.
We have also a few general links at the bottom of this page to websites which may be of use in your genealogical research.
This branch of the Wallwork family has been traced back to John Wallwork, who was born around 1705 and who married Elizabeth Whitehead on 29 January 1729 in Oldham, Lancashire. The family then remained in the Oldham or Ashton-under-Lyne areas for the next couple of centuries, many members finding employment in the Lancashire cotton industry. As noted above, this section also includes some information on the Bennison family
The Sales family mostly lived in or around the West of Kent or the Eastern parts of East Sussex, working as farm labourers or blacksmiths. Members of the family were blacksmiths in Leigh for over 100 years. So far, our most distant ancestor for whom we have clear data is Thomas Sales, born about 1760, who lived in Marden, Kent. We also have details of another line, which goes back to John Sales, born about 1680, who was buried in Leigh, near Tonbridge, Kent, in 1722. The name Sales or Sale was also found in Yalding and around Westerham and Edenbridge - we hope to find links between these and "our" Saleses.
Our branch of the Lindsey family appear to have originated in Lincolnshire, working as farmers or blacksmiths. Our earliest references (so far) are to the village of Great Carlton, where Charles Lindsey was born in about 1635. Great Carlton is in that part of Lincolnshire which is known as "Lindsey" - it would be nice to think that there is a definite link, though we have no clear information to show this.
The Coppock family has so far been traced back to John Thomas Coppock who married Elizabeth Miller at Christ Church, Greyfriars, Newgate, London in 1803.
The Collier family has been traced back to the Hattersley and Marple areas of Cheshire, where they were farmers.
The Bennison family has been traced back to the Hindley and Leigh areas of Cheshire, where they were colliers (as in mining coal) and farmers. The earliest ancestor to whom we have clear links is Peter Benison who was probably born in 1742 (he was baptised 6 Nov 1742).
General genealogical links and information
Please remember that all genealogical data should be considered as suspect unless confirmed directly with the original written records (and even these contain some errors). Online databases contain errors - though some (eg UK census data available via subscription at Ancestry.co.uk) include a link to allow you to cross-check with copies of the original written records. There is always a degree of uncertainty when constructing a family tree - the fact that your ancestor James Smith lived in anytown and that parish records there show the baptism of James son of John Smith, does not prove that John Smith was your ancestor's father. It strongly suggests that it may be the case, but further corroborative evidence would help. A good example of the type of information and reasoning that goes into determining relationships is shown in the Collier Properties document in which Stephen C. Wallwork details some of the research involved in determining the relationships of some possible early Collier ancestors.
Many family trees posted on the internet show no details of data sources - some have clear evidence of significant wishful thinking. Beware of any research provided by people who have too strong an incentive (financial or religious) to show links to additional generations of ancestors. We have learned the hard way to record sources along with all data, though some of our earlier research is lacking these details.
These links may be of use in your research:
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission - where you can search the Commission database for individuals from Commonwealth forces (Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, New Zealand and United Kingdom) who died in the First or Second World Wars.
- thesussexweald.org - information on the genealogy, history and geography of villages in the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Weald (in South-East England).
- FreeBMD - births, marriages and deaths register information from England and Wales from 1837 to 1983 (an ongoing project, not yet complete).
- www.cheshirebmd.org.uk - a collaboration between the Cheshire Family History Society and local register offices to provide a freely searchable database of Cheshire birth, marriage and death records from 1837 (ongoing, not yet complete).
- Access to Archives (now at the UK National Archives) - a database containing catalogues describing archives held locally in England and Wales and dating from the eighth century to the present day. This allows you to find reference to your ancestors in many archives not directly searchable online.
- GENUKI - a large collection of genealogical information for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.
- Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project - includes transcriptions of many Lancashire parish registers.
- Kent archaeological society MI lists - transcriptions of Monumental Inscriptions from many churchyards in Kent
- Kent Wills - transcripts of wills pre 1858
- Old Sussex Mapped An interesting set of old maps of Sussex
- Map of Sussex Parishes
- Surname Profiler Project Find which areas of the UK had concentrations of your surname in 1881.
- Archive CD Books Copies of old books on CD.
- European patents database (use the quick search and the global database, enter your UK ancestor's surname and find UK patents from about 1899 onwards)
- Nottingham University Skills Resources - a set of information on using archives, interpreting old documents etc.
- National Archives palaeography pages The National Archives pages about palaeography (the study of ancient script), including a tutorial on transcribing old text. Invaluable if you want to be able to read old documents.
- GenDocs A set of documents and further links with useful information on how to find and interpret a range of genealogical information.
- Cambridgeshire History Information about agricultural labourers - the "Ag. labs" so common on old UK census returns.