My name is David Coley, and I am researching my family tree to try and find out where I came from.
My son was recently born, and I don't want him growing up thinking he was the only Coley in existence (Like I did, there was never another Coley anywhere!)
So far I know that the family is from the Cradley area of Staffordshire / Worcestershire... and what a mess that is to a newbie never having been to England. I thought I was going mad for a few weeks thinking my relatives seemed to be Jumping Ship every couple of censuses
I know direct Ancestry.com links are not greatly welcome here, but feel free to look up Joseph Henry Coley on there if you wish. It will be listed under Devanchya as a userid
My link to the Cradley area is through my Great-Great Grandfather Joseph Henry Coley (1876) who was the child (one of 13!) of Joseph Coley (1841) and Phoebe Price (1843) .
Joseph Henry Coley (I call him this because with all the Joseph's in my family it's the only way to keep track of him!) was married in 1899 to Sarah Ann Elizabeth Walker (1878) and moved to Canada around 1903. His wife moved a few years later with one of his children, leaving the youngest with her parents John Walker (1854) and Mary Ann (?) (1859?) who immigrated to Canada in 1911... Just 3 weeks before the 1911 Canadian Census.
The fact that Elizabeth's family moved in with Joseph Henry Coley is the only reason I was able to track back to the right family in Cradley.
Right now my goal is try and entangle my roots in the UK... and right now I am trying to find out where William Coley (1807) was born... or more information on the English sides of my roots.
A fun fact right now is I have two Walkers on the female side of marriages into the Coley family in the 1800's... I have told the rest of my family this and they are all interested in finding out more about this strange fact. The good news is, I've learned quickly... there was a LOT of Walkers.
So I wave hello, admit I am rather new at this... and amazed I can find out when people were born... but death seems so much harder!
