We received an e-mail which began 

"My name is Mark Stentiford. I live in Cardiff UK and am running in this year's London Marathon in aid of FSID (Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. This is a UK registered charity - number 262191.

I have a very personal reason for choosing this charity as my first son, Gabriel Stentiford died as a baby in December 2002. The reason for this e-mail is to ask Stentifords all over the world if they will sponsor my fundraising efforts."

We hope many of our readers will support Mark in raising cash for much-needed research into one of the most tragic events that can occur within a family. If you are interested, then Mark has a website which you can visit and which tells you how to contribute. The address is

www.justgiving.com/markstentiford

Ann Ryley and Beryl Stentiford wrote about the Stentiford family from which Mark is descended in Issues 12 and 17. We've included Mark's photo - pick him out in the crowd and cheer him on when he runs in The London Marathon  on 17 April 2005!

Please, please - think about supporting Mark's effort.

Some time ago, we had a couple of e-mails from people (unconnected) who had visited South Africa, drawing our attention to the prominence there of the Stuttaford Department Stores. Did we, they asked, know anymore about them?  We didn't so we contacted Stuttafords in South Africa who kindly sent us a copy of their Company History, produced  at a time when there was still direct participation by the Stuttaford family - too much  material to reproduce here because it turns out that the Department Stores were just the tip of an iceberg - Stuttafords and Co. Ltd is a very big business empire indeed. We acknowledge most gratefully the generous assistance of Stuttaford & Co. Ltd SA with the preparation of this article. 

Keep in touch,

Muriel and Richard

Link to Office of National Statistics for information on how to obtain copies of Birth, Marriage and Death certificates.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/registration/default.asp