Family History in Beeston -

Our Beeston research has a strong emphasis on Beeston families and their history, being based on our family reconstitution using primarily the available records from the 19th century - but also using valuable individual contributions from other researchers over the years.. This family approach to local history is very rewarding and honours the contribution made by local families and individuals over the years. The stories are numerous and some are more detailed than others but all are important. This page is dedicated to recording these stories and we will be featuring a few families at a time which have been researched in depth; as these are replaced they will remain available in our family archive. To start off, we would like to introduce you to four interesting families which made their mark in Beeston:

Thornhill - members of this family - notably William Thornhill, one of several generations of Beeston tailors - made important contributions to modern Beeston through the Imperial Park and Bellevue housing developments.

Hudston - religious non-conformity has been an important feature and contributor to Beeston life, notably since the beginning of the 19th Century. James Hudston, an ancestor of the owner of this site, arrived in Beeston at that time and was to have a lasting impression on Methodist life in Beeston.

Twiggs - William Twiggs came to Beeston with his family in about 1877 and served the community for almost 50 years as pinder, fireman, lamplighter, sexton, recreation ground keeper - and more. His wider family - which had connections with the Thornhill, Bywater and Hudston families - also played its part in Beeston life. And, as you will see, contributed as well to the movement of Beeston people to a new life in America

Burnham/Elliott - members of the Burnham family kept the Royal Oak pub and others were joiners in the busy 19th century Villa Street area. Marriage into the Elliott family continued the Royal Oak connection and connections to a long-established family butchers

Beeston family information is being added all the time to this site, some in considerable detail, some brief details. We are organising this detail by surname though our name index - click an initial letter to see the what is available. Again, the details will be sparse to begin with but we expect them to grow rapidly over time - so, if you don't see what you seek, keep looking - and contact us for any special needs. Update : as we have found this index difficult to keep updated, we suggest you use the Site Search facility (in header menu) as a comprehensive name and other word finder. Tip: Keep the search simple for best results

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