02/04/2010

91 NEW!!

A set of research resources:

	Mannex's History of Westmorland 1849 A HUGE volume containing the entire history of Westmorland (and other bits) as of 1849. Everything from the ancient history of the area, through the geology, villages and inhabitants. This is a truly remarkable piece of work, and a fantastic research aid for anybody interested in the whole picture of Westmorland in the mid-19th Century. Contains a directory of all the inhabitants of every town and village in the county, together with occupations and countless historical references.
	Bulmer's History of Westmorland 1885 An EVEN BIGGER volume containing the entire history of Westmorland (and other bits) as of 1885. Everything from the ancient history of the area, through the geology, villages and inhabitants. This is a truly remarkable piece of work, and a fantastic research aid for anybody interested in the whole picture of Westmorland in the latter half of the 19th Century. Contains a directory of all the inhabitants of every town and village in the county, together with occupations and countless historical references.
	Cooke's Almanac and Directory of Richmond 1911 A brilliant view of life in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 1911. Containing a host of adverts, "interesting" editorial and a Directory of everyone living in and around the area at the time.
	Spencer's Almanac and Directory of Richmond 1915 Another brilliant view of life in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 1915. Containing a host of adverts, "interesting" editorial and a Directory of everyone living in and around the area at the time.

... and from the references in these, another 91 people, and over 200 BMD and census image. In particular:

Edmund Napier Close (1853) ... born in Ireland who married into the Richmond Close family

Robert Shaw Close (1812) ... again born in Ireland who spawned a Richmond branch

Thomas Close (1816) ... from Westmorland, who generated most of the newcomers

13/03/2010

160 NEW!!

A huge GEDCOM file of information from Wendy Thompson that has been languishing in the "To Do" list for a couple of years. Charting the progress of a branch of Irish Closes from Belfast, Ireland to Ontario, Canada.

Many thanks to Wendy for sending us this ... and for her patience in waiting for us to get around to it.

So, this release is a collection of Belfast Closes starting in the 1890's and finishing up in Ontario in the 20th Century. Adding 160 new people.

In particular, the family and descendents of John Close.

11/03/2010

132 NEW!!

Following a trip up to North Yorkshire some time ago I came across a nest of Closes in the graveyard of the Church of St Andrew in Winston, Durham. There were 8 in total, all seemingly related to each other.

So, this release is a sweep of Winston to join all the dots. It starts in 1675 and runs through to 1901 ... a certain James Close was responsible for the whole lot.

Adding 135 new BMD and Census images, 132 new people, 8 gravestones, and a Masonic link.

In particular, the family and descendents of James Close (1675) producing another dynasty in and around Winston, Durham.

05/03/2010

111 NEW!!

After completing the sweep on the Grinton registers, it left a number of people hanging around in the 19th century with only a partial picture. So, this update flushes all those out by adding 180 new BMD and Census images, and 111 new people.

In particular, the family and descendents of:

Anthony Close (1849)
George Close (1813)
Isabella Close (1778)
Isabella Close (1814)
James Close (1793)
Joseph Close (1821)
Mary Close (1780)
Richard Close (1795)
Robert Close (1852)
Rose Close (1782)
Ruth Close (1786)
William Close (1762)

It's also produced a whole new dynasty based in the Halifax, Yorkshire area.

08/02/2010

334 NEW!!

What started out again as another small interesting update turned into another mega update... 334 new people occupying the Grinton Registers. This is the whole lot from the 17th Century up to the 1840's recorded in Grinton.

The problem here is that there are huge gaps, some as big as 12 years. Couple that with the sheer number of James Close's around at any given time and it becomes just about impossible to tell who belongs to who. Any hoo ... what you see is what you get. If you spot any obvious howlers (and there will be some!) then please let us know.

24/10/2009

30 NEW!!

A couple of updates to the main family tree.

Updates to Isabella Batty Close and family. Great detective work by Iris Taylor. ( 2 NEW!! )

Updates to James Close (1863), Julia Augusta Lizzie Sophia Maas (1871) and descendents. Many thanks to Mike Wolfe for providing these. ( 28 NEW!! )

11/09/2009

168 NEW!!

What started out as a buff and polish turned into another mega update ranging from the 17th Century in Grinton, Yorkshire.

Descendents from George Close (1679) and Elisabeth Scott (1682).

Many thanks to Allan Close in Canada for providing the spark.

25/07/2009

A complete site rebuild ... again.

Dozens of new features in our Trees section, together with a couple of hundred new Closes in a couple of new unattached trees.

We've also added a new set of Galleries for Dedications, Gravestones and Photographs and Pictures of People and Places.

If you're finding this a bit vague, it's because we've basically lost track ... oh, just have a dig around.

31/12/2008

83 NEW!!

A branch into Canada on one of our unattached trees, courtesy of Karen Close.

John Close (1862) and family down to the 20th Century in Canada.

Many thanks to Karen for contributing these.

17/11/2008

The site's turned into a bit of a monster and unfortunately so have the costs of keeping it going. So, to try to cover some of these we've put together a few goodies that we hope will tempt you into adding a few pounds into our coffers. We're not here to make money and anything left over will be used to buy Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates ... or anything else that adds value.

It started as a free resource, and that's the way it's going to stay. However, all contributions will be very gratefully received.

12/11/2008

Release of yet another site search facility to fix the current one.

A whole load of people and place photographs.

12/11/2008

106 NEW!!

A huge set of updates to our main tree, courtesy of Christine Howarth.

Descendents from George Close (1679) and Elisabeth Scott (1682).

Many thanks to Christine for contributing these.

04/10/2008

55 NEW !!!

A new unattached tree originating in Swaledale.

Descendents from George Close (1770) and Mary ? (1770)

13/09/2008

22 NEW!!

A set of updates to our main tree, courtesy of Tom Hutchinson.

Descendents from George Close (1679) and Elisabeth Scott (1682) across the water to Canada.

Many thanks to Tom for contributing these.

08/09/2008

Release of the new site search facility.

05/09/2008

5 NEW!!

A set of updates to one of our unattached trees, courtesy of Ethel Close.

John Close (1863) and family down to the 20th Century in Canada. 

Many thanks to Ethel for contributing these.

03/09/2008

3 NEW!!

A set of updates to our main tree and a selection of photographs to go with them, courtesy of Stephan Harker.

Emma Elizabeth Close (1868) and descendents.

Many thanks to Stephan for contributing these.

28/08/2008

139 NEW!!

An unattached tree provided by David Axworthy detailing the spread from Grinton into Wales with an associated change in surname from Close to Closs.

James Close (1640) and descendents into Wales down to the 1901 census.

Many thanks to David for contributing these.

28/08/2008

A complete rebuild to alleviate some of the problems we've been having with the site.

03/05/2008

256 NEW!!

Another set of additions and extensions to an existing unattached tree originally provided by Denise Fukuda.

James Close (1765) and family of George Close (1812) down to the 1901 census.

Many thanks to Margaret Southgate for contributing these.

05/03/2008

20 NEW!!

Another set of additions and extensions to an existing unattached tree originally provided by Denise Fukuda.

James Close (1765) and family of George Close (1812) down to the 1901 census.

Many thanks to Margaret Southgate for contributing these.

13/02/2008

 44 NEW!!

Additions and extensions to an existing unattached tree originally provided by Denise Fukuda.

James Close (1765) and family of George Close (1812) down to the 1901 census.

Many thanks to Margaret Southgate for contributing these.

03/02/2008

Margaret Southgate (nee Close), one of our contributors, has taken up the mantle of a "One-Namer" of the Close surname. She would like anybody who is researching Close ancestors to provide whatever they can towards her endeavour. Given that we're a prolific bunch of breeders she's set herself a mammoth task!

You can find out more about what Margaret is up to at her Guild of One-Name Studies profile

The profile page will allow you contact Margaret via e-mail, and contains her efforts so far.

Please give her a hand if at all possible.

28/12/2008

25 NEW!!

The last update of 2007!

Another unattached tree with so many illegitimate children and dodgy marriages that we couldn't resist it. It has more twists than a Yorkshire B-road.

12/11/2007

200 NEW!!

We've bitten the bullet and published a set of unattached people.

Well, it seemed a bit dumb to sit on them ... soooo ... a massive tree courtesy of Denise Fukuda (nee Close) which has broken all previous records. It looks like the Closes populated the entire county of Lancashire as well as mining all the coal. Many thanks to Denise for setting us off down this path.

George Close (1791) and family down to the 20th Century in Japan.

16/10/2007

 13 New!!

A small but important set of updates to George Close (1679), ancestors and family. These push back the boundaries of the top of the tree into the early 1600's.

04/10/2007

10 New!!

Miscellaneous set of census records provided by Iris Taylor.

Updates to John Close (1824) and descendents. Many thanks to Heather Schlor for these.

26/09/2007

12 New!!

Miscellaneous set of tweaks based on our rummaging around

We've tarted up the galleries and added a chunk of history following a trip up to Swaledale.

Updates to John Close (1834) and descendents

Many thanks to Iris Taylor for these.

07/09/2007

76 New!!

Miscellaneous set of tweaks based on our rummaging around.

The American continent has now been opened up based on our first verifiable links into there.

Updates to Anthony Close (1846) and descendents.

Updates to James Close (1791) and descendents ... a lot ...

Many thanks to Iris Taylor for these.

In addition, we've revamped all the maps. You'll need shades just to look at them.

09/08/2007

Updates to the family of William Close (1752) and descendents for a bit of background history.

Edmund Close (1793) for his second wife.

Many thanks to Karen Burnell for her GEDCOM file... we got around to it eventually.

Edward Close (1866) and the Wade link.

Many thanks to Angie Dent for that.

In addition, we've fixed the Big Picture views which were broken.

04/08/2007

34 NEW!!

Updates to the family of Jonathan (Wilson) Close (1851) for descendents and the subsequent spread into Australia.

Many thanks to Steve Close for his GEDCOM file and certificates... which we have to confess we've been sitting on for a while! Thanks to this we've now opened up an Australian branch of the site.

Corrections to Thomas Alderson Close *1848)

Many thanks to Allison Brook for her clarifications and certificates.

15/07/2007

66 NEW!!

Updates to the family of William Close (1795) for descendents.

We've also filled in some of the audit trail gaps for people around this branch... which means a whole bunch of census records.

Many thanks to Allison Brook for her clarifications and photographs.

17/06/2007

 65 NEW!!

More updates to the family of Edmund Close (1793) for children and descendents down to 1901.

We've also filled in some of the audit trail gaps for people around this branch... which means a whole bunch of census records.

17/05/2007

 10 NEW!!

More updates to the family of James Close (1787) for children and descendents down to 1901.

We've also filled in some of the audit trail gaps for people around this branch... which means a whole bunch of census records.

24/04/2007

88 NEW!!

More updates to the family of James Close (1791) for children and descendents down to 1901.

02/04/2007

 33 NEW!!

More updates to the family of William Close (1752) for spouse and children down to 1901.

Many thanks to Karen Burnell for her clarifications and additions.

25/03/2007

We've given the site a bit of a de-fluff and tidy up for spring.

We've also introduced a Family View in addition to the original Big Picture. This was getting a bit heavy on the download times and as it was the only entry page to all the people it was turning into a long wait for those with slower Internet connections.

11/03/2007

18 NEW!!

Updates to the family of James Close (1791) for children

11/03/2007

74 NEW!!

Updates to the family of William Close (1752) for spouse and children down to 1901.

Many thanks to Karen Burnell for her clarifications and additions.

23/02/2007

4 NEW!!

Updates to the family of Margaret Ann Close (1867) for spouse and children down to 1901.

Many thanks to Carol Parr for her clarifications and additions.

21/02/2007

 6 NEW!!

Updates to the family of Ellen Close (1847) for spouse and children down to 1901.

Many thanks to Carol Parr for her clarifications and additions.

13/02/2007

21 NEW!!

Updates to the family of James Close (1796) for spouse and children down to 1901

Many thanks to Karen Burnell for her clarifications and additions.

08/02/2007

24 NEW!!

Updates to the family of Jervis Close (1793) for spouse and children down to 1901.

02/02/2007

9 NEW!!

Updates to the family of Nanny Metcalfe Close (~1852) for spouse and children.

Many thanks to Les Davies for his contribution

01/02/2007

4 NEW!!

Updates to family of John Close (1853) for marriages.

01/02/2007

1 NEW!!

Updates to Joseph Longstaff Close (1885) and family for birth dates.

31/01/2007

7 NEW!!

Updates to Isabella Close (~1881) and HORN family.

30/01/2007

3 NEW!!

Updates to Edmund Close (~1863) and family for 1901 Census.

30/01/2007

5 NEW!!

Updates to Longstaff Close (~1862) and family.

25/01/2007

3 NEW!!

Updates to Robert Close (1859) and family.

25/01/2007

4 NEW!!

Updates to George Close (1854) and family for 1891 and 1901 census information

24/01/2007

Updates to James Close (1787) and family for 1851 and 1861 census information

22/01/2007

1 NEW!!

Updates to Robert Close, Annie Close, Mary Ethel Close and Annie Close for 1881, 1891 and 1901 census information

21/01/2007

Updates to Isabella Longstaff and Edmund Close for 1891 and 1901 census information

20/01/2007

Updates to James Close and Mary Lamb, together with their children for 1841 census information

19/01/2007

Updates to Joseph Close and Isabella Longstaff, together with their children for 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 census information

17/01/2007

OK, we're up and running ... maybe a bit ragged in places but we take the view that it's better to have something rather than nothing