I have been interested in family history for as long as I can
remember. I suppose my research
began at the age of nine when, with the help of my
‘Nana’ I drew up a basic family tree on a
bit of scrap paper, little realising that in 20 years time it
would come in useful as our
researching began more seriously.
My main interest is 'SANDERSON' as this was my maiden name.
My father, Michael David Sanderson, was born in Sheffield in
1940 and lived at Malin Bridge until
1957 when he moved to London to start college. His father William
Arthur Sanderson was born in
Stannington and lived at Malin Bridge from the time of his
marriage in 1940 to his death in
1996.My ancestors before him lived in Bradfield, and gradually
moved down the valley into
Sheffield and beyond over the years.
Following his death, Grandads wish was to have his ashes
scattered near Bradfield cricket
ground where he had spent many happy times with his family.
When Grandma moved away from Sheffield in 1999 our family's
direct link with the area was
broken after more than four hundred years. I myself, have never
lived in the area but we have
spent many a holiday in the area visiting my Grandparents,
enjoying a picnic or picking
bilberries on the moors.
When we started our investigations we presumed that SANDERSON was
not a particularly common
surname, but as time and research has gone on, we have come to
realise that those Sandersons
get everywhere. Research before 1837 (introduction of civil
registration) has been made more
difficult by vague entries in the Parish Registers and
inconsiderate parents who had a limited
stock of Christian names! Whilst research is generally easier in
a small area (as all the
records are at hand) there is still a lot of intermarriage and a
large number of individuals
with the same name which makes sorting them out very difficult!
Early enquiries led us to believe that the SANDERSON name can be
traced back to the MacDonald
Clan in Scotland. Whether this is true of our line we cannot say,
but we do know that there
were certainly Sandersons in Bradfield by the mid-1500's and it
is believed that they
originally came from the North of England. Interestingly,
Bradfield is on the marching line
from Scotland to London so perhaps some of the Scottish soldiers
may have settled in the area
on one of their many incursions. So far, we have only managed to
prove our line back to 1798,
but believe we are aware of earlier ancestors but cannot prove or
sort them at the moment.
Around about 1987, my father bought his first computer and my
granddad became interested in
family history and began copying Sanderson extracts from the
Bradfield Parish Records at
Sheffield Archive Office. My father then began to database the
information. Since then we have
gradually added to this with the help of census extracts, poor
law records ,
and information from the National Birth, Marriage and Death
indexes.
When I bought a computer in 1998, I took to Family History in a
big way and continued
databasing all the information we had collected and building
family groups on my ‘Generations
Grand Suite’ Program. All my data sources are stated in the
notes in the programme so if you
use my Family Tree you can see where my information has come
from.
Finding information about the SANDERSONS has been fairly easy as
they have lived in and around
Bradfield since at least the 1500's but my mother's family have
been less straightforward as
they have not come from such a compact area.
The HARVEYS can be traced back to Wiltshire in the mid-1700's but
had moved to Fulham in West
Middlesex by the mid 1800's, where they began marrying with folk
from all around the country
who had also moved into the London area.
I am now beginning research into my husband's family (WEATHERILL)
in Norfolk and Windsor
although we believe the Weatherill family originated from the
North of England.
Family history is such an absorbing hobby as each new discovery
leads to more questions and
general historical background to investigate. One of our families
in particular has proved of
great interest. George Sanderson, a cutler, married Martha
lbbotson in 1819. They had eight
children, among whom were; Martin (this seems a strange name for
the period and the only one
in the whole of my family file); Malin (an unusual name though
fairly common in this area -
what is its connection with Malin Bridge?) and Morgan and Jarvis
(both rather uncommon names).
Martha died in 1847 from Typhus Fever and she was followed by
several of her children and by
George himself in 1850. Did they all die from Typhus - we are
still investigating.
Whilst I hope that the information I have collated is correct, I
have in
some cases included assumptions where I am working on research to
prove or
disprove relationships. I shall of course keep updating the
information as research
progresses.