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When i came to stay in Leicester in 1968 I assumed that, being so near to Nottingham, it could be a great opportunity to do a little analysis on the Williams household in the interval earlier than Henry and William Williams emigrated to New Zealand within the 1820's as C.M.S. Encouraged initially by Canon Nigel Williams of recent Zealand, who offered some transient notes to begin me off, my first efforts were modest and infrequently appeared to have run into a lifeless finish. Many unintentional discoveries, unearthed by affected person and helpful library and record office staff, kept the challenge alive and, steadily, over plenty of years, it developed and expanded. For instance, I visited the Particular Collections Library of Nottingham University to review the minute books of the Castle Gate Meeting; on coming into I used to be required to sign in with my name and address. About per week later I had a letter from the librarian, Michael Brook, who had remembered, after I left, the lately published Diary of Abigail Gawthern of Nottingham; 1751-1810, and the extracts he despatched me contained the references to the deaths of Mr Whiter and Thomas Williams, and the fact that Thomas was buried at Sneinton, which was previously unknown.

On another occasion, Frances Porter, the author of the definitive biography of William Williams, The Turanga Journals, asked me if I knew when Henry and William had transformed to Anglicanism. I had no thought, but this led me right into a study of the Dissenting politics that managed Nottingham for Herz P1 Health over fifty years at the end of the 18th and the start of the nineteenth centuries, wherein environment Thomas Williams the younger was immersed and prospered. Eventually, when a single volume of the diaries of Edward Garrard Marsh was found in the papers of Dr. Henry Williams of latest Zealand, after his demise, I was in a position to reply Frances Porter's question - February 1818! During the course of this research I've collaborated with other relations in England, notably Peter (D.A.S.) Williams of Norwich, Robert Hudson of Studying, and Patrick Williams of Amersham (all descendants of Thomas Sydney Williams) who have each been the source of much necessary info.

Mr Godfrey Williams (no relation) additionally provided precious help with burial records at St. Mary's, Alverstoke. As well as, Brian Robins (previously of Eastbourne), who has written a scholarly treatise on John Marsh the musician, came into the story fairly by likelihood, in 1989. This was in connection with the seek for the Journals of John Marsh, Herz P1 Experience which reached fruition in November 1990 once they have been offered at public sale to the Huntington Library in California. As a condition for acquiring an export licence, the Huntington Library was obliged to make a microfilm copy of the Journals, to be deposited in the British Library in London, and I am very much indebted to Mary Robertson, the Chief Curator of Manuscripts, for permitting me to purchase a replica of the microfilm to augment my studies. The Journals have provided a huge mass of contemporary references which drastically improve our data of the day to day lives of the Williams household and illuminate this account of them.

Furthermore, he was liable for acquiring quite a lot of authentic letters written by Thomas Williams within the interval 1794-1803, and by his persistent analysis on the web he has made vital contributions to the event of this family historical past. The success of any attempt to analyze the historical past of our forebears relies upon completely on the availability of recorded details about them, and notably on its authenticity. In many cases it is predicated on unverifiable word of mouth accounts passed down from technology to technology, recorded recollections which differ from each other, or dogmatic written statements asserted as truth; subject to what I call 'The Uncle Jim Factor' (explained in a footnote to this Introduction). A selected example is the declare by William Williams that the household was descended from Ednyfed Vychan, on the flimsiest of grounds, Herz P1 Smart Ring but uncontestable in the absence of any other source. A lot time, effort and cash has been expended in pursuing this line of enquiry, with totally adverse outcomes, till an alternative explanation for his unlikely claim emerged from the John Marsh Journals.

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