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I am Penny Willstrop married to Paul Denby. We live in Keston, Kent, England. Sometimes our two sons, Mark (24) and Andrew (22), live here too! That's us in the pictures opposite (I tried to add text to the pix but couldn't upload them. I think Paul and I are easy to spot; Andrew is on the far left and Mark on his right. I have been tracing Willstrops past and present since 1966. I recently visited St Phillips Cathedral, Birmingham where Thomas Willstrop, my 3x great grandfather, married Rosehanna Foster in 1811. I found his grave at St Paul's Church in Birmingham - known as the Jewellers Church. Thomas was the first Willstrop I can find who left Yorkshire - presumably to seek his fortune! Now the Willstrops are spread - somewhat thinly - across most of the world - England, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. If YOU know differently please tell me!! All the Willstrops in Canada, New Zealand and the USA are descendants of Thomas. The two branches in Australia emigrated directly from Yorkshire. It is especially difficult to trace the women descendants of Wilstrop/Willstrops so if you have some in your more recent family - sisters, aunts, great aunts, etc - please let me know their married names and addresses so that I can build a complete list of descendants worldwide. So far I have concentrated mainly on the LL variant of the name but I know that in the past the spelling of the name changed frequently on official documents and in directories so now I want to seriously extend the search to include the L variety - the original spelling I am certain. There is no doubt at all that we are the same family. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| LATEST WILLSTROP NEWS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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We believe that Wilstrop village records held in the John Ryland Library in Manchester give an unusually complete picture of a mediaeval village. Maurice Beresford, historian, wrote several books which include references to the 'Lost Village of Wilstrop' and much of his information came from these records. However, he only translated a part of the manuscripts which are written in mediaeval Latin and old English. Jan (Willstrop) Schofield in York arranged for the complete manuscripts to be microfiched and had a photocopy version done for herself. Another copy is now with David Ogden, of Wednesbury, who's wife, Jo, is a great grand-daughter of Eva Willstrop of York. David is a solicitor who can read Latin and Old English so he is attempting to do a complete translation. Since the last WWW Newsletter I have heard from Frances Beech in New Zealand. Her mother was a Birmingham Willstrop. I have also heard from Alyssa and Farran Willstrop in Australia. Farran is the son of Larry Willstrop who was born in Hull, Yorkshire. Still haven't managed to link the Hull Willstrops into the family around York. John Willstrop, Larry's cousin who still lives in Hull does know that his grandfather was born in York. I am looking too for information about the Willstrops who emigrated to Canada. Chuck Nicholls mother is another descendant of the Birmingham family who's grandparents sailed to Canada in 1912 at the time of Titanic voyage. Apparently their ship was in sight of the disaster. Shipping Gazette & Lloyds List dated 15th April 1912 give the ships in the area as 'Virginian' (Allen Line), 'Olympic' (White Star) and 'Baltic'. The branch is still in Ontario. Chuck's great grandparents owned a pub in Ludlow, Shropshire, England before they emigrated and settled in Toronto. I'd like to find out more about the Hen and Chickens pub ... and if anyone who reads this remembers eating crumpets in Ontario I would also like to know about the Willstrop's crumpet business in the 1920s and 30s when they were known as The Crumpet Kings of Ontario. There is another branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with whom I have been trying to get in touch without success. Gary Willstrop is another Birmingham descendant. If anyone is planning a visit to Winnipeg please let me know - I have many questions for this branch and information for them! I took the photo Andrew and Coralie on the left in Brighton in 1996. Coralie is the daughter of Belgian family friends - were my next door neighbours in Germany in 1957. Her family now live in Winnipeg and have passed messages from me to the Willstrops of Winnipeg. The house in the snow is where we live in Keston, Kent and, sandwiched in the middle, on the far left is Adam Harvey Tommy Willstrop who was 9 years old on January 4th, and next to him is Samuel Harvey James Willstrop, who was 7 years old in October. They are the sons of my brother, Michael, and it will be down to them to ensure the name of Willstrop continues in our branch of the family. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| JUNE 1999 - WORLD WIDE WILLSTROP REUNION | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 is rapidly approaching and I admit I have not started to organise a reunion. Finding a time of year to suit everyone worldwide is the most difficult task. I am proposing a June Reunion. Will you e-mail me/or write as soon as possible to say whether this is a viable date for you so that I can start to make arrangements. Is the beginning, middle or end of June best. I need to know YESTERDAY. | The place to meet has to be Yorkshire - get back to our roots. I hope that Birmingham descendants will also fit in a trip there to see round the jewellery quarter and visit St Phillips and St Pauls. If you have suggestions as to venues and programme I would like to hear as soon as possible. I would be happy to arrange a talk about the family history I have so far unravelled - and will put a display up of my collection of memorabilia and photos. The picture on the left is of St Phillips which was the parish church when Thomas and Rosehanna married but is now Birmingham Cathedral. If you are now planning your 1999 summer holiday make sure the WWW Reunion is IT!
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