Hello all.
Hope everyone is still safe and well, wherever you are.
Eyes down for another massive people update, which is actually the follow-on from a tree I published back in 2020. That one was a nice little branch of a couple of hundred people originating in Somerset, England, thanks to Toni Close. At the time, I’d just come across a baptism entry which had been incorrectly transcribed, but I decided to leave it for a rainy day. Fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the British weather hasn’t let me down, so here is the result of that … give or take 3 years.
Anyway, the main ones are:
- John Close (1552) in High Ham, Somerset
- Gabriel Close (1580) in Baltonsborough, Somerset
- Robert Close (1595) in North Petherton, Somerset
There are a handful of others, but they all seem to disappear within a few years, so there are likely more lurking in the shadows.
Unsurprisingly, not all their descendents are confined to Somerset. There are inevitable leaks into Gloucestershire (to muddy the Minchinhampton waters), Herefordshire and Wales, as well as a few forays across the water to America and Australia.
There also appears to be an inordinate number of illegitimate children born in various pockets. This isn’t unusual in itself, but does mean that there are quite a few people around today who should, or should not, be calling themselves Close.
We also have a rather dodgy marriage between 1st cousins, and a number of convicted criminals.
So, business as usual, really.
There are a few memorable facts and figures, including:
- 1660 new People
- 2343 new Images
- 1548 new Sources
- 19 new Hall of Fame heroes, some of which apparently didn’t make it out alive
All these are now online through the Close Ancestry Trees, with the recruits also available in the Close Hall of Fame on the main site.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy all this and thanks to everyone who has sent me mail over the past couple of years. It’s great to hear from you all, and I try to respond to whatever comes down the Close Ancestry pipe. Everything you send me is stashed away for a time when I can do it justice. So, please bear with me, I will get around to it eventually, but in the meantime please keep the mail coming.
And … you knew it was coming … my usual plea for a few quid towards the site upkeep. Given that we’ve had hundreds of thousands of page views, which sort of implies that it’s adding some value somewhere and that people are liking it, how about sending me a fiver towards the site costs?
Anything you can spare will be gratefully received and put to a good cause. I don’t do this to make a profit.
Just go to www.CloseAncestry.com and hit the donate button that you’ll see at the top of every page.
Many thanks to all those who continue to support us with donations, it really does help.
Andy
And now for a bit of housekeeping
See the wood and the trees
We publish everything we have in our fabulous trees, so basically if you can’t find it, we don’t have it. With over 20,000 people, 5,000 families, 12,000 sources, and 69,000 image references currently sat in our database, you’ll appreciate the amount of work that has gone into this over the years.
You can see more in the Close Ancestry Trees.
Donations
We know that everyone in the world is after your hard-earned cash, but if you do feel a donation coming on as a result of your visit here, then please feel free to send it our way. It all goes towards the upkeep of the site, for which we charge absolutely nothing. So, please help us to keep the site free to use. Thanks.
Contacting us
If you find anything that you think may be of interest to us, then drop us an email at stuff@closeancestry.com
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