One of Ari’s 4x great-grandfathers was Samuel Wheeldon. Samuel was born in Cromford in Derbyshire on 14 July 1851, the fourth son of John Wheeldon (a hatter) and Ruth Brelsford. Samuel’s baptism took place at St Mary’s Church in Cromford. The church when we visited in December 2018 Derbyshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1916, Ancestry.co.uk At the age of nine, Samuel appeared in the 1861 census, and was described as “at home”, unlike his older brother John, who

One of Ari’s 7x great-grandmothers was Lydia Roper, the mother of Alice Holmes. She was born, probably in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, in about 1749. On 28 September 1774, she married Samuel Holmes at St Mary’s in Wirksworth. Derbyshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932, Ancestry.co.uk They seem to have had at least ten children, but three of them, Mary (4), Thomas (3) and Lydia, all died young in 1783. Another Lydia was born and died in 1792 at four month

One of Ari’s 5x great-grandmothers was Ruth Brelsford, born in about 1824 in Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Her father was William, a lead miner, and her mother was Mary Flint. She was their fifth child and first daughter. I haven’t found a baptism record, so the first time we see her is in the 1841 census, aged 15, living with her parents and siblings in Hillside, Middleton. On 27 February 1953 she married a hatter called John Wheeldon at St Mary’s in Wirksworth. Marri

Joseph was Ari’s 6x great-grandfather, born in 1765 in Ashover, Derbyshire, the son of Sarah Thickett. The River Amber near Ashover On 30 December 1793, Joseph married Jane Frost in Wirksworth. Derbyshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 The couple had nine children, and they were all given the last name Bunting, rather than Thickett. Maybe Bunting was Joseph’s father’s name? The first child, Betty, died aged six, and the second, Joseph, died at eigh

Mary Ann Brewell was Ari’s 4x great-grandmother. She was born on 21 May 1846 in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, the third daughter of Ann Land and Joseph Brewell. Her father registered the birth and was unable to sign his name. His occupation was recorded as chimney sweeper. Mary Ann’s baptism took place on 14 June. In the 1851 census Mary Ann is listed as a scholar, age 4, and ten years later she is still at school. The family live in the Dale, Wirksworth. At 18, Mary Ann married He

One of Ari’s 6x great-grandmothers was Alice Holmes, who was born in Cromford in 1778, the second daughter of Samuel Holmes and Lydia Roper. The waterwheel at Cromford The first record we have for Alice is her baptism at St Mary’s in Wirksworth on 16 September 1778. Alice married Joseph Wheeldon, a hatter, on 14 September 1801 at the same church. Twelve children were born between 1802 and 1826. In the 1841 census Alice (aged 63) and Joseph (62) were living in Cromford with th

Ari’s 4x great-grandfather, Henry Pearson, was born in about 1838 in Cromford, Derbyshire, but has proved difficult to trace. According to his marriage certificate, his father was a labourer also called Henry, but I can find no census records for 1841 or 1851 that fit this family, nor any record of a birth or baptism. The alternative theory, which is supported by various records, is that he was born in 1842 to Mary Kitchen Pearson. In this version of his story, in 1851 he is