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HI ALL REALLY NEEDING HELP? MY FAMILY WERE CANAL BOATMEN IN SHROPSHIRE AND BIRMINGHAM, TODAY I DISCOVERED THEY WERE KNOWN AS GYPSYS, COULD ANY ONE HELP ME OR GIVE ME ANY TIPS ON HOW I CAN FIND INFO ON THEM?
THANKS AMANDA XX

There have been threads to do with gypsies and travellers so it would be worth putting that in as a search on a heading - cannot remember if they were on tips or records.

Have you googled canal boatmen?

Jill

There's a little box on the left of the screen - I just tried gypsies and it came up with a list of threads. Canal boat brings up a list too. Good luck

Jill

THANKS VERT MUCH JILL XX

Then many of my ancestors were also Gypsies, canal people on the canals of Yorkshire, from Goole.
There were times when they lived on board, the family acting as crew often making it difficult to find them in the censuses but find them I did.
Only when it became essential to have a home base for their children's education did they obtain a house.

I have a ggrandfathergrandmother with 13 children ran three Humber Keels transporting goods with the children as captain and crew, including my grandmother.

hi fred
thats the same for me, i have some on the cencus not not on others x amanda x

Amanda,
When and if you find one family on board at census time, be sure to look at the original document for others next door or nearby, often families travel together I found.

Incidentaly there was always a tale in our family of Grandma being born on a barge at Castleford, I found this to be false but one of her sisters was.

hi fred thanks verymuch... just found a site if your interested... got my family and the names of some of the barges they were on xx amanda xx

Yes Please. Address?

Amanda, what surnames are you looking for as I have boaties in Shropshire

hi thanks im looking for wilde and i know one of them married sratham, think its spelt like that
fred iv lost it am looking for it now xx amanda xx

fred
found it, i am prob going about this all wrong but ber wiv me... yahoo.. boatmen history... go to number 14..family history checklist...scroll down page will see holts index pree that and hey prestow.....
amanda xx

www.canalmuseum.org perhaps? I have a Statham who was my maternal grandfathers cousin.

ye think so....my james wilde 1890 apparently married a margaret statham... but not sure....
amanda xx

Do you know if your Stathams came from Shebdon, High Offley or Gnosall area?

hi laura not a clue, where they came from, dont no anything about them only herd the margaret and she married a james wilde xx

I don't know of any Wilde's in my family tree. The Stathams were related to the Watkin, Hall, Edwards and Howard side of the family who all worked on the canal. I have a William Statham and his daughter Nellie who was born in 1916

thanks for having a look, like i said not a clue about the stathams xx

I did come across a Mary Wilde born Hatton, Shropshire who married a Thomas Roberts who was a blacksmith. Unfortunately I needed a Joseph Roberts. My Roberts' didn't work on the canals until c1930

mary roberts was james daughter,,, where did you come across that.. as i cant seem to find any of them xx