About Us
The Stoneley family lived for over 30 years in Pulborough, West Sussex. Although born in Essex, John had lived most of his life in the county. Karen was born in Carlisle, Cumbria and spent her youth in the nearby village of Longtown. Christopher and Susanna were born in Rustington and Chichester respectively, but flew the nest a few years ago now.
John and Karen are currently living in the Scottish borders.
The main purpose of the site is to publish the Stoneley/Greenall family tree (with as many attendant branches as we have discovered) and, by so doing, invite additional information, extensions and corrections. If you can help in any way please do not hesitate to contact us through the toolbar above or the genealogy pages. Some of the research has been done by us but much has been done by others, too numerous to mention, who have happily shared their work. What they have given us is deeply appreciated.
The surnames in which we are particularly interested and the areas where they lived :
BAINBRIDGE (Scotland and Cumbria), BALFOUR (Scotland and Cumbria), BARNFIELD (Gloucestershire), BARRETT (Essex), BAXTER (Cumbria), BEAUMONT (Lancashire and possibly Yorkshire), BEETSON (London), BENNETT (Surrey), BENTLEY (Surrey and London), BOULTON (London), BOYCE (Norfolk), BURRAGE (Norfolk), CLARKE (Norfolk), CURTIS (Bedfordshire and London), DEWBERRY (Surrey) DUTTON (Lancashire), ELWOOD (London), EVANS (Gloucestershire), FERGUSON (Scotland and London via Lancashire), FOWLER (Devonshire and London), GREENALL (Lancashire), HARDING (Devonshire and London), HARMER (Gloucestershire), HAUGHAN or possibly VAUGHAN (Scotland and Cumbria), HILLS (Essex), HOLLOWAY(London), HORROBIN (Lancashire), HOUGHTON (Lancashire), KENNEDY(Cumbria), LLOYD (Gloucestershire and London), MACDOUGALL (Cumbria), MALLARD (Gloucestershire), MANSFIELD (Essex), MURRAY (Cumbria), OFFORD (Suffolk), OVERALL (Essex), PEASCOD (Cumbria), PERRY (Essex), PLUMMER(Norfolk), RAYSON (Cumbria), RISBY (Gloucestershire), SHARP (Cumbria), SHAW (Lancashire), STANFORD (Norfolk), STEVENS (London), STONELEY(London), STORY (Cumbria), WARD, (Shropshire or Devonshire) WINTERBOTTOM (Lancashire and possibly Yorkshire).
Information on two people Randle Stoneley and James Ferguson has eluded us for decades.
Randle was married in St Anne’s, Limehouse London on 4th March 1798 for at least the second time. His birth, other marriage(s), death and occupation remain a complete mystery. In twenty-five years searching we have not found a record of his birth or death or the death of his wife Amelia. We have traced some other Randles alive at the same time – or are they the same man?
On 2nd March 1777 in Coppenhall, Cheshire, Randal married Betty Harding.
In Evercreech, Somerset, Randal/Rendal is given as the father of two daughters who were baptised on 29th August 1790 and 22nd October 1793 respectively. In both cases the mother’s name is given as Elizabeth.
On 21st March 1802 Randle Stoneley, a cotton spinner, married Mary Nailor in Prestbury near Manchester.
On 2nd May 1805 Randle, a widower, married Eleanor Southall at Edgebaston Birmingham. He had a number of children, one of whom moved to London. So far as we know a record of his death had not been found.
On 18th August 1811 Randle Stoneley, spinner, marries Ann Taylor, a spinster, in Manchester Cathedral.
Have we a serial bigamist, a very unlucky man whose wives predeceased him with alarming regularity or several different Randles? We have signatures from some records and there are points of similarity between all of them, but conclusive proof – none.
Just to confuse the issue there is yet another Randle who was born in Stockport in 1802 or 1804 and served in India in the army, but we do not believe he is relevant to our search.
James Ferguson was born somewhere in Scotland, between 1850 and 1852. By 1877 he was living in England, marrying Sarah Horrobin (variously spelled) on 10th September of that year in Warrington, Lancashire. He moved to Eglinton Rd, Bow, London after 1881 and lived there until he died in 1906. We know that he was a dresser of flax and animal hair and a rope maker and that he had 10 children who survived childhood. 5 of the females married into the Cook, Edgell, Hider, Richardson and Stoneley families and his son Peter joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers. However, his birthplace, his mother’s name and the date and place of her marriage to his father – another James Ferguson, even his burial place, remain unknown. Any clues, leads or suggestions would be especially welcome.
Apart from the interest in genealogy John and Karen collect postcards and old photographs of Pulborough and Crossbush in West Sussex, Longtown in Cumbria and Badgeworth in Gloucestershire. If you would like to share any of our collection we will happily send you copies and would welcome any additions to our store.
We spend a fair amount of time travelling and, hopefully, you will find a selection of photographs taken on our travels elsewhere on this site.