This
quarter, we complete Sandy Ditzig's account of how she retraced the
footsteps of her ancestor Caroline Western and came to England to try
to find out more about her ancestors. The father of Ann Stentiford,
from whom both she and Doreen Norton are descended, was a William
Stentiford and it seems very likely that he was the somewhat
mysterious brother of Robert Stentiford and the father of Fanny
Stentiford who came to live in Torquay when she married Samuel
Westaway. However, to date, none of us can prove that connection
conclusively. And that's family history for you - it's the puzzles,
surprises, twists and turns that compel us all to keep on looking.
If
you want proof of that, then you only have to consider the case of the
first Stentifords to settle in Torquay - Robert and Elizabeth
Stentiford, whose story we began in the last Issue. We've tried to
tease out the truth from all that has been written about them in the
past and still we don't know exactly what happened! If you can add
anything or have a theory you would like to air, then we'd be very
pleased to hear from you.
And
there's someone else who would be pleased to hear from you. It was
Doreen Norton who first made contact with Rita Roberts and unearthed a
sad story that can still be heard within our extended families of
today. Mother dies, father remarries and when the children of that
first marriage grow up, they drift apart from the descendents of the
second marriage. Reginald Stentiford cannot still be alive but Rita
would like to track down his descendents (if any) and discover
something of his life after he left home so please - contact her
if you can help in any way at dfs.roberts@btinternet.com.
Keep
in touch,
Muriel
and Richard
