I have been researching my family since 1998.
I am half Cornish on both sides of my family. My father's LIGHTFOOT ancestors came from North Cornwall, mainly the Wadebridge (St Breock parish) where I have traced them back over 300 years.
My paternal great grandmother's VERCOE family came from Merther and has been traced back to around 1700.
My paternal grandmother's PYWELL family has been traced back to the mid 17th century in Northamptonshire, originally Naseby but after the late 17th century at Great Weldon near modern day Corby.
The BURN(E) family (my mother's maiden name) were originally from Cumberland and Westmorland where many BURN(E)s still live. I have traced them back to around 1700 in Alston parish. Later some moved to London where they made it in the city. My gg-grandfather was a Cambridge MA and was the curate at Grittleton in Wiltshire where he met and married Knightley MARRIOTT, who traced her ancestry back to Plantagenet royalty and then to Alfred the Great and Charlemagne.
My biggest brickwall is my maternal g-grandmother Ida JENNINGS who according to her death certificate was born in county Cork Ireland around 1840. That is as much as I have learnt to this date.
My mother's Cornish ancestors were the RALPH family from Camborne and before that Helston. I have traced them back as far as the beginning of the 18th century. My maternal great-grandmother's GREGOR family were from Gwenapp and surrounding parishes where the BECKERLEGs are still to be found.
I have also followed some of the collateral lines of LIGHTFOOTs and BURNEs and have received much data from other researchers into these families and the GREGOR/BECKERLEG families and the PYWELL family. I firmly believe in sharing what we discover and am always willing to swap data with other family historians. See my contact page on how to get in touch with me.
Michael Lightfoot
April 2009